<p>vickious–I have your same concern. I actually just visited Reed this weekend and spoke to a philosophy professor there. Their department is totally on the “analytic” side of the spectrum, so their style of doing philosophy is closer to the natural sciences (generally, they value clear and precise language, symbolic logic, and linear arguments). I also am into the “Continental” side of things–stuff like Heidegger’s phenomenology and Foucault.</p>
<p>The professor basically told me that they offered no Continental because no faculty member has been trained with that as an area of specialty nor as an area of competence. Apparently the only “Continentalist” left the school and retired a few years ago.</p>
<p>Besides that, however, a senor religion major told me that it’s pretty easy to study Continental philosophers through other disciplines, such as anthropology or literary disciplines. This makes sense because people like Heidegger, Sartre, and Derrida have had a HUGE influence on the softer side of the social sciences and humanities. The umbrella term “Literary Theory” or just “Theory” is oftentimes a hodgepodge for various classic and contemporary philosophers in the “Continental” tradition.</p>
<p>Maybe you can interdisciplinary major in philosophy and french, or philosophy and english, to get a general coverage of philosophy while an oblique treatment of the Continental philosophers you (and I) prefer. </p>
<p>Also, maybe take a look at the thesis topics. I happen to be infatuated witb Heidegger now, so the fact that a German senior thesis three years ago was “Ambiguity in Heidegger’s Philosophy of Language” really makes the picture rosier than it seems. </p>
<p>Additionally, if you’re pretty set on graduate study of these philosophers (which it seems you are if you care about not studying existentialism and phenomenology), then an undergraduate background in analytic philosophy may actually be an asset. A few grad schools, like UChicago, for example, have a diverse mix of analytic and continental faculty, so you could specialize there. Your analytic background could be useful in “translating” the ideas of phenomenology to something with a mroe analytic bent, such as philosophy of mind, or vice versa.</p>
<p>But anyway, don’t let the absence of Continental philosophers in the philosophy dept. get you down. I was feeling the same thing, but it seems from my visit that with some clever course handling and maybe an interdisciplinary major you can study what your interested in (it just won’t be straight up “Philosophy” because of the nature of their dept.).</p>
<p>Hope these thoughts help.</p>