Graduate Program
Strengths and Resources
Our department offers a well-rounded program in many areas of philosophy, including the traditional areas of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic and the history of philosophy. Besides these areas, we have particular strengths in the philosophy of science, aesthetics, feminist and political philosophy, biomedical ethics, and certain areas of modern, 19th and 20th century philosophy, and philosophy of language. Cressida Heyes holds a Tier 2 Chair in Philosophy of Gender and Sexuality, and the department plans to appoint a Tier 1 Chair soon. Donald Ipperciel of the Faculté Saint-Jean and adjunct member of the department is a former Canada Research Chair of Political Philosophy and Canadian Studies, and Jeff Pelletier, part-time in the department, recently finished his tenure as a Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Science at Simon Fraser University. The department has been authorized to search for a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Epistemology and Metaphysics in the upcoming year. Several members of the department hold grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for research in areas such as feminist political philosophy, early 20th century Anglo-American philosophy, Aristotle, early modern philosophy, logic, environmental ethics, and Kant’s aesthetics; there are other major grants for Philosophy for Children, Ethics and Eugenics. (All of these provide research opportunities for students, as well as faculty.) The department has also enjoyed great success in teaching philosophy (and teaching the teaching of philosophy!). Several members have recently won teaching awards. Teaching assistants receive extensive training, for example, by serving in an innovative “supersection” for introductory philosophy. Many graduate students have won teaching awards.
The department is small, with 14.7 current regular or long-term faculty and two professor emeriti who continue to teach and advise, several affiliated and adjunct members, and a number of sessional appointments. Several new faculty members, Katalin Bimbo (Logic), Howard Nye (Ethics), Chloe Taylor (shared with Women’s Studies), and Neil Dalal (shared position with Religious Studies in South Asian Religion and Indian Philosophy), were hired in the last three years. The Philosophy Department has frequently cooperated with the Departments of Political Science, Psychology, Computing Science, History & Classics, and Women’s Studies Program, with the interdisciplinary programs in Humanities Computing and Religious Studies, and with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre. We also hope to increase collaboration with Linguistics and Computer Science.
Graduate enrollment in philosophy is about 50, small enough to allow for close contact between students and staff. At the same time, the total University enrollment of 37,000 students makes it possible for the University to provide academic facilities and opportunities for interdisciplinary work not available at smaller universities. For example, the University Library is now the second largest in Canada, with a total volume equivalent of close to 5 million, including 26,000 serials.
The Department is prominent in regional, national and international philosophical communities. Faculty and students participate regularly in the annual meetings of the Canadian and Western Canadian Philosophical Associations and of the various Divisions of the American Philosophical Association, as well as in the meetings of many other conferences and associations. In recent years, the Department has hosted the congresses of the Western Canadian Philosophical Association, of the Society for Exact Philosophy, and of the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy, as well as organizing several conferences on specific themes. Department members serve as officers and committee members of several philosophical associations, such as the Pacific APA, and as journal editors for publications including the Canadian Journal of Philosophy.
Further information about departmental strengths and interests can be found in various areas of the departmental website, which includes pages for faculty members, graduate students, news items, colloquium listings, past dissertation topics, placement record, and comprehensive examination committees.