Philosophy pre-arrival information
Congratulations on securing your place to study Philosophy with us - we can’t wait to meet you! On this page you’ll find useful information and tasks to help make your transition to university life as smooth as possible.
Your checklist
Complete your registration
The first thing you need to do is complete your registration.
Explore the student handbook
The student handbook is designed to guide you through your time at Sheffield - from now until you graduate - we highly recommend that you take a look at the handbook before you arrive to find out more about your programme, how we can support you and the School community.
Choose your modules
Online module selection (OMS) is now open. Please make sure to choose your modules before you arrive so you can complete registration and get ready to start your studies. You’ll find all of the information you need to choose your modules on our programme information site here.
Complete your Digital Induction
My Digital Induction is a guide to the apps and software you will use at Sheffield. You should complete this before you arrive to make sure you know how to access everything you need.
You will receive a lot of emails during your time at University, so it’s also important that you learn how to effectively manage your University inbox making sure that you don’t miss any important information.
Philosophy Thought Experiment
As part of your welcome week events, you’ll get to join a mini seminar where we throw you into a live thought experiment — the kind that’s puzzled brilliant minds for centuries. To prepare for this, pick a couple of topics from our Thought Experiment document and think about one of the questions ahead of time. Don’t worry, the sessions are informal, interactive, and there’s no “right” answer!
Read the welcome from your head of school
I'd like to welcome you to the School and wish you well as you join, or rejoin, our academic community. We're delighted that you are with us in Sheffield and we look forward to working with you both as you study on your programme and as you get involved in all that we have to offer beyond the lecture halls and seminar rooms.
We're really keen that your views shape what we do, so please do get in touch if you'd like to give us your input on your experience. There are also plenty of people here to help if you have any questions or issues - their details are available in this handbook. Good luck with everything in the coming weeks, and I look forward to seeing many of you around the campus.
Professor Adrian Bingham
Head of School
Welcome Week timetable
Our Welcome Week activities are a great way to meet your fellow students, and we strongly encourage your attendance.
- Monday 22 September 2025
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities Welcome talk
Time: 1pm - 3pm
Location: St George’s Lecture Theatre
Campus maps- Tuesday 23 September 2025
Library, Digital Learning and 301 Skills Centre Welcome Talk
Time: 1pm - 2:30pm
Location: Diamond, Lecture Theatre 1
Campus maps- Thursday 25 September
Philosophy Thought Experiment
Time: from 10am
Location: See your timetable for exact time and location
Introduction to your programme followed by tea and biscuits
Time: 2:30pm - 5pm
Location: See your timetable for exact time and location
There is also a programme of events run via the Students' Union.
Dual degrees
If you’re on one of our dual honours courses, you might find it useful to also take a look at the pre-arrival checklist for your other subject.
English and Philosophy
Take a look at your English Checklist.
History and Philosophy
Take a look at your History Checklist.
Politics and Philosophy
Take a look at your Politics Checklist.
Mathematics and Philosophy
Take a look at your Mathematics Checklist.
Useful information
- Meet the School’s student experience team
We’re here to help throughout your studies - take a look at our student experience page to meet the team and find out where to go if you have questions or need to access support.
If you have any questions about modules, your timetable or any other part of welcome week, please do not hesitate to contact us at hpdh-studentenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk.
- Orientation events
Orientation Week is an optional programme of information sessions, social events and activities. It runs from 15th to 19th September and is a great way to start to get settled into life in Sheffield and the University ahead of welcome week. Find out more on the University webpages here.
- Student Societies
The Students’ Union has a wide range of clubs and societies run by students for students, this includes School academic societies. The Philosophy Society is a really active society offering a wide range of events and activities that you can get involved with, it’s also a great way to meet other students on your programme - find out more about the Philosophy Society.
- Introductory Reading
If you are new to the subject of philosophy, you may wish to look at some books that will start to provide a broad overview of the subject or the history of philosophical ideas or a sense of how philosophy is done. There are plenty of good books for this purpose. The following are recommended:
- S. Blackburn’s Think, Oxford University Press (1999), also his Being Good: a Short Introduction to Ethics, Oxford University Press (2001).
- M. Cherry Unmuted (2019) is a collection of interviews with philosophers on pressing contemporary issues such as social protests, climate change, and education. You could look up subjects and issues in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which is published on-line at http://plato.stanford.edu/
- Basil Blackwell has published a good series of Companions to the different fields of philosophy.
- U. Narayan’s Dislocating Cultures (1997) is an excellent and accessible discussion of notions such as ‘nation’, ‘identity’, and ‘tradition’.
- B. Russell’s Problems of Philosophy is a classic; a more recent classic is T. Nagel, What Does it All Mean.
Other classic texts worth looking at are Plato, The Republic; Descartes, Meditations; Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion; J.S. Mill, Utilitarianism; and Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex.
International Students
Arriving in Sheffield
You should arrive in Sheffield ahead of welcome week starting on 22 September. This gives you plenty of time to settle in, find out more about your course, meet other students across the School and explore Sheffield before teaching starts on the 29 September.
International student success programme
In preparation for arriving in the UK, you might like to take our international student success programme, which is designed to equip international students with the knowledge, understanding and skills that are essential to prepare for and adjust to university study in the UK.
The programme includes four modules focussed on preparing for student life in the UK; culture: adapting and managing expectations, effective communication and looking after yourself and finding support.
Contact us
If you have any questions about modules, your timetable or any other part of welcome week, please do not hesitate to contact us at hpdh-studentenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk.