End of May Update

Department Chair Patricia Marino reports: “I’ve been presenting papers on lots of different topics over the last couple of months. In March, graduate student Chris Wass and I were on a panel together at the PPE Society [http://ppesociety.web.unc.edu/] meeting in New Orleans — our topic was “Ethics and the Boundaries of Economic Reasoning.”

PhD Candidate Chris Wass (left) and Dr. Patricia Marino at the PPE Conference in New Orleans

“In April,” she continues, “I was at the Pacific APA commenting on a book on Compassionate Moral Realism — at this event I was excited to see my new book on philosophy of sex and love at the Routledge display!” [See the following link for book contents, plus future posts for more—ed. https://www.routledge.com/Philosophy-of-Sex-and-Love-An-Opinionated-Introduction-1st-Edition/Marino/p/book/9781138391000]

Patricia with new book from Routledge, Philosophy of Sex and Love: An Opinionated Introduction (2019)

“While I was there,” Patricia says, “I also got to see our grad alum Nora Boyd, currently an Assistant Professor at Sienna College.”

Patricia (left) with Dr. Nora Boyd (right) of Sienna College

And: “In May, I was at “Business Ethics in the 6ix” [http://be6.ca/] — this is an interdisciplinary conference at the Ted Rogers School at Ryerson University that brings together business ethics people in the Greater Toronto Area. Drawing on examples in Cathy O’Neil’s book Weapons of Math Destruction, I presented an analysis of algorithms and their potential for racist and other discriminatory outcomes. I also have a new project on the use of mathematics in economic reasoning and recently discussed that at the Society for Exact Philosophy [http://www.phil.ufl.edu/host/sep/index.html] conference at York University.”

Dylon McChesney and Mathieu Doucet recently published an important article in the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy on “Culpable Ignorance and Mental Disorders” . There, they argue that—contrary to some common presuppositions—having a mental disorder does not, of itself, offer a blanket exemption from moral blame. They deploy the tools of analytic philosophy, moral psychology, as well as empirical reference to cases and the American Psychiatric Association’s authoritative diagnostic manual DSM-5. They point out that some mental disorders have a lack of moral concern for others as a diagnostic criterion for the having of said disorder(s). And such lack of concern may lead to ignorance, and/or action, which can plausibly be seen as morally culpable or blameworthy. They conclude that their reasoning “… takes seriously the idea that those with mental disorders are capable of full moral agency, and that their conditions do not leave them outside, or even on the margins, of the moral community.”

Shannon Dea offers this narrative of our recent Kerr-Lawson Lecture: “Professor V. Denise James (Dayton) visited the Department as our second and final Angus Kerr-Lawson Memorial Lecturer. This lecture was endowed by the Hall family in memory of long-time Philosophy Department member Professor Angus Kerr-Lawson, who died in 2011. Professor Kerr-Lawson was particularly interested in pragmatism and American philosophy, especially the work of George Santayana and Charles Sanders Peirce.

Dr. Angus Kerr-Lawson

“Professor V. Denise James is the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies Program and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Dayton.  She received her B.A. from Spelman College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Emory University. She was the recipient of the University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award in 2015 and the Outstanding Service Award in 2017.

Dr. V. Denise James of the University of Dayton

“Dr. James’ scholarly work and advocacy involves getting critical clarity about the interplay of the politics of geography, identity, and social justice. She has published essays about the intersections of classical American pragmatism and black feminism, articles about street violence against young women and girls, radical social justice, and the philosophical significance of U.S. black feminist thinkers. She is at work on a book about the life and political significance of the black feminist poet, activist, and theorist Audre Lorde for our current moment.

Audre Lorde

“Professor James’s Kerr-Lawson Memorial Lecture was entitled: “Growth and Survival, but Especially Survival: Black Feminism as Pragmatism.” The talk was preceded by recollections about Professor Kerr-Lawson by his colleague, Professor Emeritus Bill Abbott. Professor Kerr-Lawson’s widow, Marg, and their daughter, Kate, attended both the lecture and the previous day’s departmental awards reception.

“During her visit, Professor James generously met with various students and faculty, and ran a well-attended departmental discussion, “Philosophical Methods and Traditions: Being Pragmatic About It All.””

Shannon has remained very active apart from helping with all that. For example, she recently appeared on “Friday Four”, a weekly, hour-long news panel on the Mike Farlow Show (570News). She discussed the rise in gun crime in the region, municipal reform, and what the closure of the Original Princess Cinema portends for Uptown Waterloo. And she’s published two further columns in her series for University Affairs, Dispatches in Academic Freedom:

• • “In the Face of Dangerous Questions, Turn to Core Values” (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/in-the-face-of-dangerous-questions-turn-to-core-values/); and
  • “Academic Freedom is Caught in a Triangle of Threats” (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/academic-freedom-is-caught-in-a-triangle-of-threats/); this post was reblogged on the Academe Blog of the American Association of University Professors here (https://academeblog.org/2019/03/24/academic-freedom-is-caught-in-a-triangle-of-threats/)

And late last month, Shannon, recent PhD alumnus Nathan Haydon, and M.A. student Scott Metzger all gave presentations at the “Pragmatism & Phenomenology Workshop: Female Figures” at King’s University College at Western University in London. This was the third iteration of a workshop which has alternated between King’s and Waterloo in recent years. Nathan presented on Simone Weil’s moral thought. Scott considered “Is Helen Longino a Pragmatist?” And Shannon led a workshop on Jane Addams’s sympathetic understanding, titled “Devil Baby Revisited.”

Dr. Nathan Haydon (left) at the workshop, doing graphs with Dr. Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen (right) , President of the C.S. Pierce Society

And Shannon reports that: “Feminist Philosophers, the prominent international group blog, is closing down after 12 years of operation. The blog was founded by Professor Jennifer Saul (Sheffield), who will be joining our department in the fall; for years, I, Carla Fehr, and former UW philosopher, Tim Kenyon were among the co-bloggers. Here’s my final post, “Here at Feminist Philosophers…” (https://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/here-at-feminist-philosophers/)

Katy Fulfer recently attended the Northeast Modern Language Association meeting, held in Washington DC, to participate in a seminar on using Speculative Fiction to teach Social Justice. Her contribution to the seminar was entitled “Afrofuturism in Introductory Gender Classes.” This seminar was organized by UWaterloo PhD Candidate in English, Meghan Riley.

Dr. Katy Fulfer (back row, at left) at the NMLA in Washington DC

On March 29, Katy presented “Refugee Rootlessness, Resettlement, and Assimilation” as part of Guelph’s Philosophy Colloquium Series. On April 5, she took this talk to her alma mater, Georgia State University (MA 2008), as part of their Prospective Students Day. And on April 11-13, she was in Edmonton for the Hannah Arendt Circle, a conference she co-organized. Katy will be the Chair of the Hannah Arendt Circle for 2019-2020, which will hold its next conference at the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College in Washington, DC April 16-18, 2020.

Dave DeVidi recently chaired the plenary session at the Steps Toward Inclusive Community event, sponsored by Guelph Services for the Autistic “to herald World Autism Day.” Three independently produced short films, each focusing on an adult with autism and what they and their supporters are doing to help them live a self-directed life in their community, premiered at the event. It also provided an opportunity for groups and individuals that support people with various cognitive differences to share bright ideas and innovations. While nominally about autism, DeVidi noted that the organizers felt “common cause with everyone who is committed to the values of acceptance and inclusion of people who reflect all the different forms of human diversity and difference.” He summarized the spirit of the event like this: “Being ‘safe and well looked after’ is important, but if that’s our only goal for those we care about we are stopping short. People who are different are often underestimated, sometimes even by themselves. When people have supports that allow them to recognize and pursue their interests and to develop their gifts, not only are their own lives enriched, but so are the lives of those lucky enough to know them.”

From the “J.O.E.” (Jobs. Opportunities. Enterprise), a “work enclave” of young adults who did the catering for the event

Dave also reports that he will soon be taking up a new administrative post. As of July 1, he’ll be the University’s Associate Vice President Academic for the next five years. While this means he won’t be around the Philosophy Department as much as usual and that he won’t be doing much (if any) undergraduate teaching, he will still be involved in graduate supervision. “I like all parts of my job,” he says, “but I think grad supervision is the most fun. I’m glad I’ll still be able to do some of it.”

Dr. Dave Devidi (right), soon to be the University’s new Associate Vice-President Academic, with one of his graduate students, award-winning PhD Candidate Catherine Klausen (left)

Finally, congratulations to one of our undergrad PHIL alums, Dr. Trystan Goetze, who has just been awarded a prestigious Government of Canada Banting Fellowship, to be held at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Dr. Goetze’s important and timely post-doctoral project shall focus on developing a model for what intellectual accountability means in a world increasingly saturated with “fake news” and other forms of information manipulation. See Dalhousie’s official Banting announcement at:

https://www.dal.ca/news/2019/05/16/government-of-canada-selects-dal-phds-and-postdocs-for-its-most-.html?fbclid=IwAR0fZWOAdSbudHed5K15Rn34khp5wd1Zwje4ulxxyu7TLsCaRE8Nfn-Zs2g

Happy summertime everyone: see you in the fall!

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April Awards Season!

April was awards season here in the Department.

Department Chair Patricia Marino notes that: “We are delighted to announce that our own Dave DeVidi has been awarded the Arts Award for Excellence in Service for 2019! Dave’s record of service to the University of Waterloo community, and beyond, has been extraordinary. In addition to chairing our Department from 2012 to 2018, he served for years as the President of the Faculty Association and on many Faculty and University-level committees. Partly because of his long experience, he is often called on in an informal way to help out when complicated situations arise across campus. Beyond campus, he volunteers his time with individuals, institutions, and important causes. Previously, Dave was the inaugural winner of the Equity and Inclusivity Award. We are lucky to have him as a colleague and proud of his amazing accomplishments!”

Dave DeVidi being awarded the 2019 Arts Excellence in Service Award

And then celebrating after, here with his wife, Jane Forgay, UW Librarian….

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…and then here with many Department people. From left to right: Patricia Marino, Dave, Gerry Callaghan, Chris Wass, JohnTurri (standing), Angela Christelis (standing), Doreen Fraser, Mathieu Doucet, and Shannon Dea

 

Tawnessa Carter reports: “Yet another good time was had by all at the 10th annual philosophy, and women’s studies, awards ceremony in April. Our top undergraduate and graduate students received awards for their outstanding and insightful work during the current academic year.

“Gerry Callaghan once again acted as MC, with his signature combination of wit and comic timing. Philosophy graduate, Lindsay Weir, graciously opened the event with some inspiring words about how much she loved her years studying philosophy, and how she uses it daily in her career. [ed.– Lindsay’s remarks are reprinted below]

“Thank you to all the students who worked hard this year in philosophy – you’re what makes our department so great! Congratulations to you all!”

Here are a handful of photos capturing the event:

Gerry Callaghan as Awards MC: none better! 🙂

Department Chair Patricia Marino (right) presenting the philosophy first-year prize to Sharyn Gittens

Mathieu Doucet (left) presenting the second-year philosophy prize to Kenny Hoang

Doreen Fraser (left) presents the third-year philosophy prize to Kuil Schoneveld

The fourth-year philosophy prize was awarded to Ashley Raspopovic (along with Adam Thibert, not pictured). Here she is shown (right), also being awarded the gold medal for undergraduate essay, with Nick Ray (left) and Friend of the Department Bob Ewen (middle). Bob has long generously supported the department, including its awards ceremony.

Shannon Dea (right) presenting Clair Baleshta with the upper year prize in women’s studies

And Patricia Marino (left) and Bob Ewen (middle) presented Chris Wass (right) with the silver medal for graduate-level philosophy essay.

Lindsay Weir’s remarks at the Department Awards ceremony were so well-received that we asked her permission to reprint them in their entirety, and share them with everyone, with gratitude, below.

Department Alum, and Software Analyst, Lindsay Weir, spoke at the Department Awards Ceremony

“Since graduating, I’ve worked as an office manager and in Human Resources before landing in the world of tech. I am currently a Software QA Analyst for a company that makes smart city software. I like to call my job the “early warning system” of the software world. It’s my role to find issues before they get out to the client. In my career so far, my education in philosophy has been of value in a number of ways.

“First, I’m glad that I studied what I did because it was interesting, enjoyable, and what I wanted to do. I meet so many people who tell me that they wished they had studied philosophy in university but felt they had to do something else to get a job or live up to expectations placed on them. I’m happy to have taken the time to learn what I wanted to learn rather than being focused on a career path.

“I also feel like reading complex philosophical texts has prepared me for the fact that the world we live in is full of complex information and decision-making. When we decide who to vote for, or evaluate a health claim on the Internet (for example), we are often confronted with a lot of complex information. I feel like interacting with texts that have been translated or were written long ago has given me the ability to manage this complexity and make informed choices.

“Additionally, I feel like studying philosophy prepared me for situations where people disagree.  There are many very smart people who are not able to handle someone disagreeing with them or are unable to charitably disagree with someone else. In both cases, this is pretty unhelpful and does not lead to good interactions. I feel like philosophy helped me practice responding graciously to being disagreed with by others and also helped me develop the skills to charitably encapsulate someone’s argument and disagree with them in a way that is reasoned and effective.

“Although philosophy as a discipline is much more than a collection of technical or transferable skills, there are a few skills it teaches that I’ve found particularly helpful. The first is the ability to think critically and spot bias in yourself or others. Being able to do this allows you to make more reasoned decisions and be more responsible in your own thinking. On a technical level, the courses I took in formal logic have also been very helpful as I am learning to code, since the structure and operators found in code are very similar to those used in formal logic.

“In closing, I feel like my studies at Waterloo in the philosophy department have given me a very strong foundation for the rest of my career. I use many of the skills I learned on a daily basis and I also enjoy knowing that I had the time to learn about a subject that is interesting and engaging. I hope that this foundation can be every bit as useful to current and future students in their lives after graduation as it has been to me.”

March Update

On Friday, March 1^st, graduate students from across UW’s Faculty of Arts convened for the annual Arts Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) heat. The event serves as a great opportunity for graduate students to share their research ideas with their peers and a rapt audience, perfect their ‘elevator pitch’, and convey the significance of their work. The Philosophy Department was very well-represented at this event!

Kathryn Morrison won the event, and will proceed to the university-wide finals on March 20^th. She spoke on “The Right to Die for Mature Minors”. See this YouTube link for her full presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyy5DlEqH0Y&list=PLE2p6NlgDDSYuQOoVV3eZjxENqVmBKvqn&index=74

Kathryn Morrison speaks on “The Right to Die for Mature Minors” at UW Arts 3MT

 

Chris Wass spoke on “Exploring the Possibility of Professional Ethics for Economists”. See this YouTube link for his full presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVcYWRGHrZE&index=80&list=PLE2p6NlgDDSYuQOoVV3eZjxENqVmBKvqn

Chris Wass speaks about “Exploring the Possibility of Professional Ethics for Economists” at UW’s Arts 3MT

 

On March 7-8, the Department was very happy to host the 26^th annual Philosophy Graduate Student Association (PGSA) conference. Over 10 stimulating formal presentations were delivered, from scholars across Canada, Europe, and the United States, including the keynote address by Dr. Molly Gardner of Bowling Green State University, who spoke on “Doing Harm, Allowing Harm and The Trolley Problem.”

Dr. Molly Gardner, of Bowling Green State University, spoke on “Doing Harm, Allowing Harm, and The Trolley Problem” at the 26th PGSA Conference

 

The week of February 4, Professor John Corvino from Wayne State University visited the Department as our latest Rudrick Visiting Scholar, during which time he gave several talks and met with students and colleagues. Professor Corvino is the author or co-author of several books, including Debating Same-Sex Marriage (with Maggie Gallagher; 2012), What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (2013), and, most recently, Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination (with Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis, 2017), all from Oxford University Press.

Dr. John Corvino, of Wayne State University, was the 2019 Rudrick Visiting Scholar

Dr. Corvino has appeared on CNN, ABC, FOX, MSNBC, CSPAN, and other TV and radio networks. Until 2011, his column “The Gay Moralist” ran weekly at 365gay.com; he has also contributed to The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Detroit Free Press, the Advocate, the Huffington Post, The New Republic, Slate, Salon, and Commonweal, as well as various academic anthologies and journals.

Dr. Corvino is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2004 Spirit of Detroit Award from the Detroit City Council, a 2012 Distinguished Professor of the Year Award from the Presidents’ Council of the State Universities of Michigan, and the 2017 inaugural Community Hero Award from Affirmations LGBTQ Community Center. In the last 25 years he has spoken at over 250 campuses on issues of sexuality, ethics, and marriage. His online videos have received over two million views. The Rudrick Visiting Scholar program honours the memory of Dr. Brian Rudrick, an alumnus and longtime friend of our Department, who died suddenly in 2013.

 

Dr. Shannon Dea was a panelist on 570News’s Friday Four show on February 8. Among other current affairs, she discussed changes to Ontario’s public health system, and the federal SNC Lavalin controversy.

Shannon continues: “On February 11, I published my latest Dispatches on Academic Freedom post in University Affairs: “Two kinds of academic freedom? Lessons from a scholar who fled Turkey” (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/two-kinds-of-academic-freedom-lessons-from-a-scholar-who-fled-turkey/). And: “On February 20, I gave the opening keynote at UW’s W3 Represents Symposium. “W3” stands for “Waterloo Women’s Wednesdays” – a monthly meet-up event for women and non-binary people on campus. I founded W3 in 2012, and passed on its leadership to successors in 2017. This interdisciplinary conference was the first such event for W3.” Finally, on March 1, Shannon took part in a panel on “Diverse Knowledge in the Academy” as part of University of Toronto’s “Thinking towards Action: 2019 Underrepresented Philosophy Conference.”

 

On February 20, Dr. Katy Fulfer gave a talk entitled “Hannah Arendt, Responsibility, and Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program.” At the W3 Represents Research Symposium, mentioned above. This talk examined the structure of the Private Sponsorship program using Hannah Arendt’s distinction between the public and private realms as a lens of analysis.

Katy also participated in several events to mark International Women’s Day. On March 7 she participated in a panel on “White Feminism in Higher Education – Waterloo Context”, which provided a critical take on how white-centered perspectives are structurally embedded in curricula and other parts of university life.

At the International Women’s Day event, back row (left to right): Dr. Katy Fulfer and Lori Campbell. Bottom row (left to right): Fiqir Worku; Craig Fortier; and Kim H. Nguyen

The Women’s Studies Program is a sponsor of the International Women’s Day Dinner, which this year featured a keynote speech by Dr. Anita Layton, the Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine. Katy represented the program at the dinner:

 

If anyone missed the official UWaterloo story about the launch of the new Gender & Social Justice program, which will replace Women’s Studies as of this coming September 2019, they can read it here.

 

Dr. Doreen Fraser reports that: “A steady stream of prospective students and their parents visited the Philosophy, and Gender and Social Justice, booths at the March Break Open House and packed Dr. Greg Andres’ sample lecture “Why we can’t we have nice things?” Thank you to volunteers Theo Peng, Abigail Willms, Chris Lowry and Greg Andres for helping to make the day a success.”

Dr. Chris Lowry, at left, and Abigail Willms, at the March Break Open House

January Update

Brian Orend has just published a new book, Seizure the Day: Living A Happy Life with Illness, with Freehand Press [ http://www.freehand-books.com/books/seizure-the-day ]:

Back cover accolades come from Roko Belic, director of the award-winning documentary Happy [ https://www.thehappymovie.com/ ] as well as from Darrin McMahon, Dartmouth historian and author of Happiness: A History. McMahon writes: “This is a beautiful book about struggle and overcoming, told with insight, wisdom, and good cheer. At once smart and funny, it will, quite literally, put a smile on your face.”

Seizure the Day is part medical memoir, part philosophy (leaning, e.g., on Aristotle’s account of well-being) and part empirical research, drawing from social- and political science as well as positive psychology. It’s Orend’s first book to crack the front-of-store display at Chapters/Indigo:

 

Shannon Dea informs us that: “My latest “Dispatches on Academic Freedom” column for University Affairs is “The Price of Academic Freedom.” It was published last week: https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/the-price-of-academic-freedom/

“As well,” she continues, “on December 18, I did interviews with a number of CBC Radio 1 morning shows about Ontario’s new campus free speech policies. I did interviews with Ontario Morning, London Morning, Superior Morning, The Morning Edition, Morning North, and Windsor Morning.” Here’s a link to the Ontario Morning interview: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/ontario-morning-from-cbc-radio/episode/15650872

 

Patricia Marino lets us know that: “In early January I went to NYC to present a paper at the APA Eastern Division Meeting on “Moderate Deontology, Arbitrariness, and the Problem of the Threshold.” In economics approaches to the law, outcomes are typically evaluated in terms of whether their consequences are efficient — just like in consequentialist ethical theory. Like ethical consequentialism, these approaches are criticized for leaving aside other values such as justice — particularly striking in the legal context.”

Patricia Marino gave a conference talk in NYC in January

She continues: “Alternative approaches – such as “moderate deontology” — try to bring consequences together with the kind of constraints found in other ethical theories. Those alternatives are accused of being arbitrary – because they rest on moral judgments. Using the ideas in my 2015 book Moral Reasoning in a Pluralistic World, I show how they are not, in fact, arbitrary at all. Fun fact about my presentation: sitting in the front row was our very own Emeritus Professor Jan Narveson!”

 

Tawnessa Carter reports exciting social media news: “We’ve recently created a YouTube channel for the philosophy department to post interesting and relevant videos by faculty, staff, students and alumni.  We will be posting videos of colloquium talks from here on in (if the speaker grants permission) to ensure that everyone has the ability to hear the talk if they cannot attend.  Please click below to see what we’ve posted so far.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4J67q1qnlf0gc3k0AmVvqA

I encourage you to add comments and likes to our videos.”

 

December 2018 Pre-Holiday Post

Hope everyone is handling end-of-term duties well, and is looking forward to the holidays. Enjoy celebrating! Some recent news from our Department members:

 

Katy Fulfer had a busy November. She reports that, at the start of the month: “UWaterloo Arts welcomed prospective students and their families. Greg Andres, Caroline Dack, Carla Fehr, Katy Fulfer, Theo Peng, and Nick Ray were around to answer questions and share the exciting work students and faculty do in the department. The Open House was also one of the first times we’ve been able to showcase the new Gender & Social Justice programs, which launch in the Fall 2019 term! We couldn’t let guests leave without a little conceptual work either! We asked people to tell us what philosophical questions keep them up at night, and why they need feminism.” See some of the fun:

Dr. Katy Fulfer at the Arts Open House, with an intriguing question

Also at the Open House were Theo Peng and Dr. Nick Ray

The Gender and Social Justice programs launch next Fall

Katy continues: “Philosophy and Women’s Studies also co-sponsored a public talk by queer theorist Jack Halberstam on November 19. Jack’s talk “TRANS* Visual archives of the transgendered body” explored his recent explorations of archival material in search of representations of transmasculinity.” Katy’s latest publication also appeared—”Self-Sufficiency for Surrogacy and Responsibility for Global Structural Injustice”—as a chapter in the book, Surrogacy in Canada: Critical Perspectives in Law and Policy, ed. by V. Gruben, et al, published by Irwin Law. (https://www.irwinlaw.com/titles/surrogacy-canada.) And, at month’s end, the Women’s Studies Program hosted human rights lawyer, peacemaker, and women’s rights advocate, Wazhma Frogh. Wazhma talked about how she developed a consciousness of peace and advocacy work, the work she did in her home country of Afghanistan, and the advocacy work she’s doing now upon moving to Kitchener-Waterloo.

Wazhma Frogh, second in from the right, meeting in November with UW students….

 

… and, at a different event, with Hilary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

 

Carla Fehr recently gave an intriguing presentation on the very topical topic of artificial intelligence (AI), and its manifold implications for our lives. For all the talk, and reality, of AI’s potential to improve and simplify things, Carla’s contribution drew attention to AI’s potential for amplifying prejudices and biases already existing with society. She gave the example of the work of Joy Buolamwini, an African-American computer scientist at the M.I.T. Media Lab, who experienced the bias of facial recognition software firsthand. The software didn’t work on her face, even though it worked on her white friends. Shockingly, Buolamwini could only get the system to recognize her as human when she wore a white mask. She proceeded to conduct a formal, detailed study, finding that commercial face recognition software is bad at identifying women with darker skin tones. The error rate was as high as 46 per cent, which Carla notes is almost no better than a random coin toss. She comments that AI is, after all, set up with initial programming, and this programming can represent biases, and that even smart, well-intentioned people can be quite oblivious to the fact and nature of their own biases, as well as their consequences. For more on Carla’s, plus other presentations at that event, please see: https://uwaterloo.ca/stories/keeping-human-artificial-intelligence.

 

Shannon Dea was featured in the Fall 2018 Waterloo Magazine issue, “Unlocking the Future of Learning”: https://uwaterloo.ca/magazine/fall-2018/feature/how-do-we-learn.

Dr. Shannon Dea, second in from the left, featured with UW students. Photo credit: One For The Wall

Shannon also reports on recent, important graduate student news she’s been connected with:

Matt Silk successfully defended his PhD dissertation, Evaluation and Value Management in Science. Examiners were Lorraine Code (York), Brendon Larson (ERS), Matt Brown (UT Dallas) Patricia Marino and Shannon Dea (supervisor).

Vanessa Lam successfully defended her PhD prospectus, Harm Reduction for Corporations and is now ABD. Vanessa’s committee: Matt Doucet, Mary Hardy (Statistics and Actuarial Science) and Shannon Dea (supervisor).

Congratulations to both Matt and Vanessa on the milestone achievements!

Shannon also gave a recent invited talk on “Academic Freedom in Context” at the Within and Against Academic Freedom symposium at the New School at the University of Toronto. And she reports two new entries of her monthly online column for University Affairs – Dispatches on Academic Freedom:

• (December dispatch) “My Office Door and the Campus Free Speech Crisis That Never Was,” https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/my-office-door-and-the-campus-free-speech-crisis-that-never-was/
• (November dispatch) “Academic Freedom in a Non-Ideal World,” https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/academic-freedom-in-a-non-ideal-world/.

And Shannon had two recent publications:

“Free Speech and the Battle for the University.” Lead article in Academic Matters’s Fall 2018 issue on Debating Speech on Campus (https://academicmatters.ca/print-issues/debating-speech-on-campus/); and

Review of Mara Marin, Connected by Commitment: Oppression and Our Responsibility to Undermine It (Oxford, 2017). APA Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy 18.1 (2018) 18-20, https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.apaonline.org/resource/collection/D03EBDAB-82D7-4B28-B897-C050FDC1ACB4/FeminismV18n1.pdf.

 

And Chris Lowry reports that he was recently interviewed on 570 News radio. He was on “Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke” to discuss a Chinese researcher’s announcement of the world’s first gene-edited babies, as well as ethical issues related to “designer babies” more generally.

Dr. Chris Lowry recently gave a radio interview about “designer babies.”

The interview was November 28^th, link following, starting at about the 21-minute mark: https://www.570news.com/audio/kitchener-today-with-brian-bourke/. Chris also reports a recent publication: “Universalism, Vulnerability, and Egalitarianism”: a chapter (pp. 5-24) in C. A. Riddle’s ed., From Disability Theory to Practice (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018). Cover image below:

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Mid-Fall Update!

Hope everyone’s Fall term is progressing nicely. Here are some great things our faculty and graduate student community have been up to the past few weeks:

Jackie Feke has a new book, Ptolemy’s Philosophy: Mathematics as a Way of Life, fresh off the press from Princeton UP!  Check out the cover:

At the link {https://press.princeton.edu/titles/13256.html}, you’ll see the book praised by experts as “the first systematic treatment of Ptolemy’s philosophy” and “a significant contribution.” And she crossed The Pond recently to give a talk in London entitled “The Physics of Ptolemy’s Astrology,” at the annual meeting of the European Society for the History of Science, in conjunction with the British Society for the History of Science.

 

Ph.D. Candidate Cait O’Donnell informs us that: “For the duration of my Ph.D., I’ll be working with the Medical Professionalism and Physician Health teams at the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in Ottawa. I came to the CMA for my advanced research placement. My project will involve a qualitative study that seeks to understand the policy- and systems needs of palliative care physicians (and doctors who specialize in end-of-life-care) across Canada.”

Cait O’Donnell, Philosophy Ph.D. Candidate

She continues: “As the CMA wants to know how to support physicians at the macro level (policy, government), they will be supporting me in my studies so that I can offer recommendations as to how best to support this group of doctors. Working with Dr. Jeff Blackmer at the CMA is a dream come true. I was able to come and work here because of Waterloo, and the incredible Ph.D. in Applied Philosophy.”

 

And a bit of Applied Philosophy in action, so to speak: Dave DeVidi attended a gala opening of LIFEactually, an exhibit of photographs by the highly regarded photographer Pete Paterson, at the Dufferin County Museum. The exhibit features people who live in Dufferin, and who are supported by Facilitation Wellington Dufferin (FWD), doing the things they love in their communities. It’s an eye-opening display of human potential, and a lesson on what people can achieve with support from people who believe in them. FWD provides independent facilitation to adults with developmental disabilities; that is, it provides supports that help people think through what is important to them, to make good decisions of their own about important things like where and with whom they will live and how they will spend their days, and to find the formal and informal resources to put their plans into action.

Dave DeVidi, left, with Marcelle (centre) and Candice (right) at FWD’s LIFEactually Gala

Dave reports that he has spent more than a decade working to help build FWD, and is currently the President of its Board of Directors … “but he works behind the scenes, because he just doesn’t have the skills to be an actual facilitator.” The gala attracted at least 200 people. The LIFEactually exhibit will spend two months at the Dufferin County Museum, then hopes to move to other museums in the areas FWD serves. In the photo with him, above, are: Marcelle, whose own photo should appear when LIFEactually moves to Guelph; and Candice, one of FWD’s facilitators.

 

Another book fresh off the press is the second edition of Brian Orend’s Introduction to International Studies, from Oxford UP. The cover image, below, is an aerial shot of a local, boat-based, flower- and food market in Indonesia.

The second edition—praised by experts on the back cover as “comprehensive” and “excellent”—contains over 35% brand new material (as the first edition was five years ago, and consider how much has changed worldwide since then). This single-authored textbook considers global studies from a different perspective per each of the twelve chapters, ranging from international trade and foreign policy to the natural environment and global public health, and including his own core specialties in armed conflict, international law, and human rights. For more, see the link: http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199018840.html

 

John Turri reports: “In order to care for their offspring, parents must be able to re-identify their children in different circumstances. In order to re-pay a favor, we must be able to re-identify the person who showed us kindness originally. What criteria are involved in our ordinary concept of personal identity? For decades philosophers have assumed that, on the ordinary view, one person cannot be in two places at the same time. In a ground-breaking investigation, researchers in the Philosophical Science Lab found that common sense rejects this “one-person-one-place rule”.”

One… or two? 

He continues: “A series of carefully controlled behavioral experiments revealed that most people judge that a person can exist simultaneously in two different locations, perhaps for over a week and despite undergoing different bodily changes in the two locations. This is a major conceptual discovery with far-reaching implications for the philosophy of personal identity. The findings recently appeared in the series Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy. The research was co-authored by Dr. Sara Weaver when she was a Waterloo Philosophy PhD student.”

 

Patricia Marino informs us that: “I was recently in Hanover, Germany for the 2018 joint meeting of the European Network for the Philosophy of Social Science (ENPOSS) and the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable {https://enpossrt2018.com/}, presenting a paper on “Underdetermination, Methodology, and Normativity in Distinguishing Rational from Irrational Behavior.” This was my first time at a conference specifically focused on the philosophy of social science—and I enjoyed it very much! Looking at the issues from a science perspective was a refreshing change from the more ethics/values perspective I usually take, and there were some excellent talks linking epistemological issues together with social and political ones. We also went on a lovely tour of the Herrenhausen Gardens, which involved some strolling and also some wine drinking—which I regard as a perfect combination of activities.”

Patricia Marino touring the Herrenhausen Gardens in Germany

Patricia continues: “A while ago I participated in a roundtable on the book Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age by legal scholar Nelson Tebbe. My contribution — “What is the ‘Social’ in ‘Social Coherence?'”– was recently published, along with other commentaries and the author’s replies. Anyone interested can view it at {https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/jcred/vol31/iss1/5/}

Also: “I was very pleased and proud to be able to hood Andria Bianchi as she received her PhD at the Arts Convocation ceremony on Saturday October 27th! Even though it was raining, it was a lovely day inside. Congratulations, Dr. Bianchi!”

Newly-minted Ph.D., Andria Bianchi, left, with Patricia Marino, at Fall Convocation

 

Doreen Fraser gave a talk entitled “Formal and theoretical equivalence” as part of the Emergence, Effectiveness, and Equivalence session for the 59th annual Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science. Her talk inspired this awesome watercolor painting by physicist and artist Kaća Bradonjić:

A watercolour by Kaca Bradonjic

 

Katy Fulfer, pictured below, recently presented a colloquium on “Welcoming Refugees? Rootlessness, In-Betweenness and Belonging”, to the PHIL Dept at McMaster.

Katy Fulfer delivering a colloquium talk at McMaster University

Katy further reports that Shannon Stettner and Sasha Cocarla—two instructors in the Women’s Studies Program—recently gave presentations on their scholarship at a recent lunch hosted by the Women’s Studies Program. Shannon’s was entitled “Telling Abortion Stories,” and she talked of her work as a historian bringing to light how women spoke about their experiences with abortion in Canada. {Her co-edited book related to the subject is out at: http://projects.upei.ca/isp/news-2/crossing-troubled-waters-3/.} Sasha talked about “Bi In/Visibility: Representations of Bisexuality in Pop Culture,” examining dominant narratives about bisexuality as portrayed in television, and how characters negotiated bisexual identities.

 

And, as ever, Shannon Dea managed to keep up a hectic pace of activity and achievement. She presented a talk, “Does Harm Reduction Need Philosophy? (And Does Philosophy Need Harm Reduction?)” at one of two workshops at McGill, on harm reduction, which she co-organized with Daniel Weinstock. She delivered a talk, “Academic Freedom and Equity”, as part of a panel she co-organized with Barrett Emerick (St. Mary’s College) and Alice MacLachlan (York). This was at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy (CSWIP) at Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS.

Taking a break on the beach, in Nova Scotia, from CSWIP: Kate Norlock of Trent (left); Shannon Dea (centre); and Barrett Emerick of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Photo credit: Kate Norlock

 

While at the University of Saskatchewan last week, Shannon gave two talks: a colloquium to the PHIL Dept there on “Viewpoint Diversity and the Final Opinion”; the other, the keynote address to their undergraduate students’ annual event, on “What’s it Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?” And she had two large recent initiatives related to academic freedom. First, she launched a new online column called “Dispatches on Academic Freedom” for University Affairs, the magazine of Universities Canada. {See the link: https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/dispatches-academic-freedom/.} And she provided advice for the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations leaders’ “Strategizing Response” to the Ontario Government’s new free speech policy requirement for post-secondary institutions in the province.

 

Announcing our New Chairs and Officers!

Hi everyone! We thought it’d be a fun and good idea to have an informal introduction to all the new Dept Chairs and Officers. Below please see personal statements from: Patricia Marino, the new Dept Chair; Carla Fehr, the new Associate Chair, Graduate; and Doreen Fraser, the new Associate Chair, Undergraduate. Following that, we have similar statements from Angela Christelis and Tawnessa Carter, the new Administrative Officers of the Dept.  A great and happy team to lead the Dept moving forward. Hope everyone’s term is off to a strong start! 😊

From left to right: Dr. Carla Fehr, the new Associate Chair, Graduate; Dr. Patricia Marino, the new Department Chair; and Dr. Doreen Fraser, the new Associate Chair, Undergraduate.

 

Patricia

I can’t believe it’s been fourteen years since I joined the Philosophy Department. How time flies! Our department has changed a lot since then: we’ve lost several valued colleagues to retirement and gained many wonderful new people. I am grateful to all the previous chairs I’ve had the pleasure to work with — Richard Holmes, Tim Kenyon, and Dave DeVidi — for shepherding us through the years. I’m eager to build on the initiatives and accomplishments of my predecessors, by strengthening our connections with other disciplines and departments at the University, nurturing our community of students, faculty, staff, and alums, and facilitating my colleagues’ original and creative research. While I work primarily on topics in ethics, epistemology, philosophy of economics, and philosophy of sex and love, I am interested in all different kinds of philosophy, and I enjoy writing on lots of different topics. My next book, “Philosophy of Sex and Love: An Opinionated Introduction,” will be coming out with Routledge Press in 2019, and you can enjoy my reflections on modern life and its discontents, philosophy, literature, politics, and other topics at my blog, TKIN: Accidental Philosopher Encounters Modern Life.

Carla

One of my favourite things about the Waterloo Philosophy Department is the intellectual community we share. The great things about being a professor—the class that went particularly well, a publication I’m proud of, a cool idea that popped into my head while I was buying coffee—are sweeter when I can share them with colleagues. The challenging parts of my job—creating new classes, puzzling through a problem in a grant application, figuring out the details of an argument—are more fun when I’m part of a team. My research focuses on how groups of people work together to create knowledge, and I’m lucky to be part of such a great group of scholars and teachers. As Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, I will continue to nurture our lively and supportive academic community. If you have questions about graduate studies, please stop by my office hours.

Doreen

I am excited to be returning to the role of Associate Chair, Undergraduate. It’s my job to advise Philosophy majors and minors. (The advisor for Women’s Studies majors and minors is Prof. Katy Fulfer [https://uwaterloo.ca/philosophy/about/people/katy-fulfer] and the advisor for Cognitive Science minors is Prof. Chris Eliasmith [https://uwaterloo.ca/philosophy/people-profiles/chris-eliasmith].) My favourite thing about this role is getting to know all of our undergraduates, so students who have not already met me, please introduce yourselves! I usually teach courses in philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, and epistemology. My research focuses on the paradoxes and interpretive puzzles posed by quantum theory, which raise fascinating philosophical issues. I have developed the course PHIL 252 Quantum Mechanics for Everyone to share these intriguing conceptual and historical aspects of quantum mechanics with everyone, especially those who have not studied physics or mathematics. I am currently writing a book on the role that analogical reasoning has played in the formulation of new quantum theories. When I am not advising undergraduates or thinking about quantum theory, I like reading fiction, hiking, camping, and watching my sons play hockey.

 

On the left, Tawnessa Carter; and on the right, Angela Christelis, the new Administrative Officers of the Department

Angela

I’ve had a long and enjoyable history with this department starting with my first philosophy course as an undergrad, after which I promptly switched my major to Philosophy. Thanks to the care, enthusiasm, and encouragement of the faculty and staff, I also chose to do my graduate studies here. In my administrative role, I look forward to supporting the faculty with the same level of care and enthusiasm. I also look forward to supporting our graduate students, who contribute in so many ways to making this department a lively place to work.

Tawnessa

I graduated from Waterloo with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature ages ago and, after years of working in several different industries, I find myself back at Waterloo in the role of Undergraduate Coordinator for philosophy, women’s studies and cognitive science.  I love the academic and creative energy on campus, most notably from the undergraduate and graduate students in the philosophy department.  I enjoy finding ways to further engage with our students by always having an open door and providing support for them during their time at Waterloo. Pop by anytime and say ‘hi!’