Clancy Chassay, BA Philosophy and International Relations, graduated in 2004

'Since leaving Sussex I have worked as a journalist and filmmaker, first as the Beirut correspondent for The Guardian and the Economist covering the Middle East and Afghanistan, and now as a producer of political documentaries for Channel 4.  Studying philosophy gave me an edge in the investigations I do today. It equipped me with the powers of critical thinking and the intellectual skills to confidently assess situations and the arguments that sustain them. Beyond that, studying philosophy gave life a depth of detail that continually enriches it.

'Studying Philosophy at Sussex was both fun and hugely challenging and while the tutors were careful to make sure everyone knew where they were, there was always encouragement to take things further. The tutors' engagement with philosophy and its role beyond the classroom helped demonstrate its importance, and their enthusiasm for understanding the world for the better was truly inspiring.'

Luke Gittos, BA in Philosophy and Music, graduated in 2008

'I recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Law and received a substantial scholarship to train as a barrister. I am currently employed full time as a Paralegal for a criminal law firm in London. My time studying Philosophy at Sussex has furnished me with vital skills in critical thinking and argumentation which have proved invaluable in studying law. But more significant is the impact that the course has had on my thinking generally. Philosophy will inevitably change your perspective on the world and leave you uncomfortable, exhilarated and desperate to learn more. It is highly addictive and highly rewarding.

'The Sussex Philosophy Department provides a friendly but uncompromising approach to a difficult subject. The tutors do not patronise their students by diluting the material or cutting corners. Instead you will be challenged to meet the ideas head on and helped up when they inevitably knock you over. I hope to return to Philosophy one day and when I do, Sussex will be my first port of call. In the meantime,  I continue to write about Philosophy for the review website of a London think tank called the Institute of Ideas.'

Beth Capper, BA in Philosophy and English, graduated in 2006

'I am currently studying for a Masters in Arts Administration and Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I realised recently, in going back to university, that Philosophy has taught me critical skills that I have carried into everything I do. I have always been a feminist, and I have participated over the years, as a writer, an academic and as a curator, in questioning how a feminist philosophy can cohere in practice. Certain texts that I read at Sussex, in particular Merleau-Ponty, have proved invaluable in thinking though such questions. I don't know if I would have read the theorists who have profoundly changed the ways in which I live in the world without the grounding in Western and continental philosophy that I received at Sussex. I remember fondly attending Philosophy Society, where a Friday night lecture would oftentimes turn into a dinner and continued argumentation with teachers and students. The small, intimate department at Sussex made me feel part of something, it allowed me, as an undergraduate, to mix with my teachers on an equal level and to share my ideas with them.

'I am presently starting an online film journal about experimental film called Refracted Lens. I am also curating a number of film shows, as well as a contemporary art show in the autumn. All of these practices involve a high level of critical and intellectual thinking; they are, in my own way, putting some of the philosophical texts I read into practice, using art as a means of making others ask the questions I ask daily. More than anything, philosophy taught me to slow down, to take stock of things and to realize that the answers are not always so readily available: they have to be worked for.'

Dan Cowan, BA in Philosophy, graduated in 1999

'I returned to education as a mature student and was delighted to get a place to study philosophy at Sussex. The course exceeded my expectations. I was able to study artificial intelligence alongside phenomenology, linguistics alongside Wittgenstein and logic alongside computer programming. This showed me just how far it is the case that philosophy, both its methods and conclusions, is the foundation of everything else. I now run a development team writing bespoke software for investment banking. This is a fantastically complex domain; I'm not a mathematician so my route to understanding quantative finance comes from battling through Leibniz, Kant, Heidegger and Wittgenstein. Designing and building software systems is an extended exercise in practical ontology – if you love metaphysics then 'object-oriented design' in software development is a dream come true. Requirements-gathering exercises are all about rational analysis and clear communication; successful meetings are often a question of seeing through the enthusiastic rhetoric and finding the right argument. These very marketable skills were all honed through my philosophy degree. So, by being a philosopher at Sussex I gave myself the skills to go on to develop complex software systems in the city. You can learn all about some things but you have to really do philosophy; think critically, be imaginative, creative and well reasoned.'