Meanwhile, from across town…

From Inside Higher Ed today:

The philosophy department at… the University of Southern California has hired almost a dozen new professors in the last decade. USC’s hiring has caused the program to rocket up 35 spots on the Philosophical Gourmet Report, which ranks graduate programs in philosophy based on the reputation of their faculty members. “[N]o department has improved more over the last decade than USC,” Brian Leiter, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School who edits the report, said in an e-mail. He said USC, tied at No. 11, is likely to crack the top 10 if its upward trajectory continues*… While USC’s ranking stems from the quality and reputation of its faculty, the philosophy department has expanded its interdisciplinary programs for undergraduate and graduate students alike. New additions include a progressive 5-year master of arts degree in philosophy and law, and an interdisciplinary major in philosophy, politics and law, which has grown from 18 to 201 students in less than four years. In that same time, the department’s total number of philosophy majors has gone from about 125 to 258, said Scott Soames, chairman of USC’s philosophy department.