- Guy Douglas (BA Hons Philosophy 1993, PhD 1999)
- Michelle Forster (BA Hons Philosophy 1994)
- Rod Hughes (BA Hons Philosophy & English 1986)
- Callan Ledsham (BA Hons Philosophy 1994)
- Dan Nazer (BA Hons Philosophy 1997)
- Clement Swee Huat Teo (BA Hons Philosophy 1995)
- Robert Wilson (BA Hons Philosophy 1986)
GUY DOUGLAS
"I completed two philosophy degrees at UWA -- BA (Hons) 1993, and PhD (1999).
I had entered university intending to study law but was driven by an
interest in the subject to continue with philosophy. To me the study of
philosophy creates a whole range of benefits. Philosophy enables you to have
something to say -- it gives you the tools to form your own opinions and
present them in a coherent way. It enables you to draw what you know about a subject, and apply it to another; to look at what you do know and reason
your way toward understanding what you don't.
"In the end I did do that law degree -- and I used the skills I picked up in
Philosophy to get high marks which I'm sure I wouldn't have achieved
otherwise. When interviewing for jobs with top tier law firms in Melbourne,
I spent most of my time talking about Philosophy -- which my interviewers
were drawn to on my résumé."
MICHELLE FORSTER
"I was a student in Philosophy at UWA from 1990 to
1994, when I completed my BA with Honours. I
found that all of the units I took were of an excellent standard, and
the staff were always willing to provide any help required of them,
even outside of teaching hours.
"During my honours year the staff were particularly helpful, even those
who were not supervising any of my courses or my dissertation. As a
result, I was highly motivated and enthusiastic about my work, and was
able to work to my full potential. In that year I also tutored first
year philosophy.
"The units in
philosophy I took at UWA provided a firm grounding for my postgraduate work and teaching."
ROD HUGHES
"I graduated from UWA with Joint Honours in Philosophy and English in 1986.
Since then the main bits of my career have been:
* Joined The West Australian newspaper as a final year cadet and worked as graded journalist on the general news round and Parliamentary reporting.
* Joined the Northern Territory News and worked as a senior journalist covering Parliament, politics, environment, education and aboriginal affairs.
* Returned to Perth for a brief stint at the sub editor's desk at The West Australian before taking on a job as a journalist for the Environmental Protection Authority.
* I am now assistant director in the Office of the CEO
at the Department of Environmental Protection. My main area of concern
is public affairs management."
I am quite confident that my studies have helped me considerably over
the years. Regardless of what might be said about journalists
generally, I do believe a strong analytical ability is very important.
I think my philosophy studies helped me to develop this. (Through my
present work I see all new cadets coming through The West. It is usual to see at least one philosophy graduate among them each year, in a field which is extremely competitive.)
My work now involves handling a wide range of issues with public
affairs implications for the department. I am involved in managing the
agency's dealings with the media and to a large extent its dealings
with the Minister's office. I like to think that my main skills lie in
the area of analysing arguments and distilling the issues arising from
them; in pointing out logical flaws in positions either put by others
or proposed by this department. These are skills I certainly attribute
in part to my philosophy studies which taught me to question arguments
developed by others, and to analyse complex arguments into a simpler
form to examine their validity and soundness."
CALLAN LEDSHAM
"I chose to study philosophy because of the rigour, the intrinsic interest and the value of
the courses and perceived value of a degree majoring in philosophy.
"Since graduating, I have worked as an editor and computer systems
manager for Calmarc Chemicals. My philosophy degree trained my skills
in document writing and analysis, logical and argumentative thinking,
and (this is often taken for granted) the ability to keep a deadline,
knowing that it will not be revised. I have edited correspondence for
the company and engaged in consultancies for external organisations
where the ability to read critically and respond precisely in a short
time span or quickly pick up the essence of a technical issue or
dispute was very valuable."
DAN NAZER
"After changing my major from engineering, to maths, to psychology then
to philosophy, I finally graduated with an honours degree in philosophy
in 1997. I then travelled to the United States to do a PhD in
Philosophy at Rutgers University.
"Although I enjoyed Rutgers, and I felt that UWA had prepared me well
for it, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career with more direct
involvement in public affairs. So, I dropped out about half way through
my PhD (picking up an MA) and began a law degree at Yale. "I was very glad to begin law after
having studied philosophy. I believe that studying law is far more
interesting and rewarding if you already have the reasoning and writing
skills that you need. And philosophy is the perfect way to get such
skills. After graduating from Yale, I got a job as a law clerk to a federal judge.
At the moment, I am in Melbourne working as Justice Susan Kenny's
associate at the Federal Court of Australia. In a few months, I will
return to the US (in Santa Cruz, California) to work as an attorney for
the American Civil Liberties Union.
"I never would have guessed where UWA philosophy would lead me but I
think my philosophy background has been an excellent tool along the
way."
CLEMENT TEO
"I arrived at UWA with the aim of completing a degree in Psychology.
Along the way, I found another calling, and I graduated with honours in
Philosophy. Such is the beauty and flexibility of an Arts education!
You will almost certainly find something which you are more suited for,
or something which is after your own heart and you can do it! Add to
that the fact that you can confidently go as far as you want to go,
given the world class teaching staff and facilities UWA offers. "I also
enjoyed a varied and fulfilling campus life: I was a campus guide for a
couple of years, edited the Lighthouse
magazine, served on the International Students Services committee,
worked as front desk assistant in the International Students' Office,
and played professional soccer for the Uni team for a season. "The
people, the challenge of each unit, and the overall atmosphere of UWA
contributed to some of the best days of my life. I now work in
Singapore as sub-editor for a couple of Miller Freeman publications,
but if I had a chance to do it all over again, I'd be back in a jiffy."
ROBERT WILSON
"I went to Craigie Senior High School. I came to UWA intending to study Law, but having met a number
of law students in my first month there, and having felt gripped
(really!) by several of my classes -- mainly philosophy and psychology
-- I quickly reconsidered my options. "During my second year of study I
took an overload of philosophy units and a unit in psychology.
Although I was concerned about job prospects at the end of it all, I
chose to pursue what I thought were my deeper interests. So I ended up
in the Philosophy honours program, hoping that ability would follow and
jobs would take care of themselves.
"With respect to career options, my undergraduate degree did a
good job, I think, of preparing me for jobs requiring a variety of
critical and analytical skills. There were no particular units that
seemed crucial; rather, it was the general range of thinking skills and
a sense of how to conduct and/ or participate in a philosophical
discussion that was important." | 
