If you're contacting Katie in her capacity as Chair, Knowledge Integration, please use: ki.chair@uwaterloo.ca
kathryn.plaisance@uwaterloo.ca
519-888-4567, ext. 48612
EV1 214
Katie received her Bachelor of Science in both Philosophy and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin in 2000, followed by a Masters and PhD in Philosophy, with a minor in Bioethics, from the University of Minnesota in 2006. Before coming to the University of Waterloo, Katie was a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Philosophy and Ethics of Science at the Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany.
Katie’s interest in philosophy began with the Theory of Knowledge course she took as an International Baccalaureate (IB) student. Since then, she has pursued and combined her interests in philosophy, biology, and psychology, and shares with other members of the Department of Knowledge Integration a passion for interdisciplinary education. Her research interests include: engaged philosophy of science, philosophy of the behavioural sciences, and interdisciplinary expertise. Katie’s work is highly collaborative – she has published with students and faculty researchers in the social sciences, behavioural sciences, and in philosophy.
Katie is currently leading a 5-year grant-funded project that seeks to foster meaningful collaboration between philosophers of science, on the one hand, and scientists and engineers, on the other. She is also a member of the International Network for the Science of Team Science (INSciTS), a field of scholars and practitioners that trains people how to work effectively in teams.
Katie regularly teaches INTEG 220: Nature of Scientific Knowledge, INTEG 221: The Social Nature of Knowledge, and INTEG 210: Making Collaboration Work. She also teaches a number of rotating special topics courses, including INTEG 375: Science, Society, and Values, INTEG 410: Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and INTEG 475: Socially Relevant Philosophy of Science, as well as INTEG 420 A & B, Senior Research Project A & B.
She has been recognized for her teaching excellence and dedication with the honour of the University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award in 2016, the 2020-2021 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching Award, and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Teaching Excellence Award, 2022.
For more information about her research, visit Katie Plaisance's faculty web page.