MA Students
Kyle Adams
Kyle received his Bachelor of Mathematics with a specialization in Pure Mathematics and Teaching from the University of Waterloo. During this degree, he developed an interest in philosophy of mathematics, its relationship to epistemological questions about acquiring knowledge through mathematical models, and how these tools can be misused in a community.
In math, his areas of interest are graph theory and mathematical logic. Outside math and philosophy, he is a historical interpreter, a fan of fantasy media, and is developing a bit of a green thumb in the gardens at home.
Troy Freiburger
Troy completed his Bachelor’s degree at Wilfrid Laurier University with a double major in Philosophy and Psychology. His main areas of interest lie in the interdisciplinary areas of Psychology and Philosophy such as Cognitive Science, in addition to the Philosophy of Language and the Philosophy of Science.
He is currently pursuing an MA in Philosophy as well as our institution's Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Science. In his spare time, Troy also has a passion for Classical studies as well as writing poetry.
Madeleine Kenyon
Pronouns: She/her
Madeleine Kenyon is currently pursuing her M.A. Philosophy, Madeleine completed her B.A. Honours Philosophy at the University of Victoria. Her main areas of interest are feminist philosophy, philosophy of language, and carceral philosophy.
Susannah Mackenzie-Freeman
Susannah Mackenzie-Freeman received her Honours Philosophy degree at the University of Alberta and then completed a Master of Laws at the University of Edinburgh, specializing in Medical Law and Ethics and graduating with distinction.
Armand Shivanand Naik
Originally from the Greater Toronto Area, Armand Shivanand Naik completed his Honours BA in Philosophy at the University of Waterloo while enrolled in the Arts and Business Co-op Program. Within the co-op program he worked as a research assistant in the history department at St. Jerome’s University, as well as a software quality assurance engineer in various tech firms in the heart of downtown Toronto.
He is currently in his first semester at the University of Waterloo working towards a MA in Philosophy. His interests are primarily concerned with the general areas of metaphysics and the philosophies of science and math. His prospective research is focused on quantum theory and causality, alongside optimization concerning software.
George Stroubakis
Education: BA Translation (Concordia, 2006), BA Philosophy (Waterloo, 2021).
George’s interests include philosophy of science and problems surrounding the epistemology and metaphysics. His experience in industry (over 16 years) gives him an informed perspective on ethical and epistemic issues we encounter in systems, technologies, and research. He’s also inspired by methods used in experimental philosophy in tackling conceptual issues and the role of intuition.
George’s current research interest involves the cognitive challenges of big data.
He practises Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and enjoys swimming and spending quality time with his children.
Danna Zhang
Danna Zhang main areas of interest are bioethics, political philosophy, and environmental ethics. She previously completed an Honours BA with a specialization in Philosophy and a major in Bioethics, at the University of Toronto. When she is not doing philosophy, Danna enjoys expressing her creativity through culinary and fine arts.
PhD Students
Tasneem Alsayyed Ahmad
tasneem.alsayyed.ahmad@uwaterloo.ca
Tasneem Alsayyed is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo. She completed her BA in Philosophy with a minor in Brian and Language Studies at the United Arab Emirates University and her MA in Philosophy at the University of Toronto.
Her main research interests are social ontology, feminist epistemology and philosophy of language. Generally, her focus is on women and gender in the Islamic context. Her dissertation focuses on analyzing contemporary narratives and debates related to female piety, and how they might impact Muslims of all genders, in various ways, across the world. Her non-academic interests include spending time with family and friends and traveling to old and new places.
Alex Gruenewald
Areas of Interest: social metaphysics, American pragmatism, trans philosophy, philosophy of language (specifically pragmatics), and philosophy of medicine.
Janet Jones
Janet Jones is pursuing her PhD student in Applied Philosophy. In 2020, she was named a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar. Her research interests include feminist epistemology, social metaphysics, and solidarity. Inspired by her volunteer work in the community, she specifically works on topics related to drug addiction, harm reduction, and relational ethics. As part of her Applied Research Placement, Janet developed an e-learning website about drug use and drug treatment in Canada. You can check it out at www.criticaldruged.org.
Janet is the editorial assistant at Feminist Philosophy Quarterly and serves on the board for Family Counselling Centre of Cambridge and North Dumfires. She is also a member of the Canadian Harm Reduction Theory Network.
Chris Longley
Chris Longley is a graduate student in applied philosophy and theoretical neuroscience at the University of Waterloo. His main research focus is the science and ethics of neuroprediction.
Other areas of academic interest include aesthetics, human enhancement, artificial intelligence, and the philosophy of Derek Parfit. In his spare time, he enjoys reading (often science fiction) and visiting cafes, as well as practicing pencak silat and the violin.
Lynne Sargent
Lynne Sargent is a Ph.D Candidate in the applied program. They specialize in ethics and biothetics related to technology and disability theory, and are passionate about policy and working towards the advancement of the most vulnerable.
In addition to their work at the University of Waterloo, they have an M.A. from McMaster University. To read their public facing work, you can visit their philosophy blog: https://moralguillotines.wordpress.com/ which hosts various projects both from and beyond their academic research.
In addition to their academic work, they also are a published writer and poet. To find out more, visit them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-lynne-sargent-48756478/, or on Twitter @SamLynneS.
Eleanor Aurora
m8steele@uwaterloo.ca
Areas of interest: feminist philosophy, queer theory, social metaphysics, and anarchism.
Angella Yamamoto
Areas of interest: Philosophy of Biology and Epistemology (specifically how knowledge is created in biology), Philosophy of Science, and the interaction of Science and Society.
Angella Yamamoto is a PhD student in Applied Philosophy department at the University of Waterloo. She was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta and completed her BSc in Biological Sciences and BA in Philosophy at the University of Alberta. Following her BA she left academia for a few years to work but returned to complete a MA in Philosophy at the University of Waterloo. Always interested in the sciences, she found that she more frequently became interested in the philosophical questions and answers that science brought to mind. She currently works on how knowledge is created in science, metaphysical implications of scientic research, structural realism, and epistemic injustice. She often combines what she learned over the course of her BSc and some of her work experience with her philosophical research. She strongly believes that it is essential that philosophers of science understand the science they reference. Therefore, she works to continue to be involved in scientific discussions and attempts to familiarize herself to the best of her ability with the science she is interacting with through communication with scientists and reading of scientific literature.
As part of her applied philosophy project, she will be observing the lab discussions of a lab that has kindly accepted her involvement. She will then use these observations to inform theories about the nature of reality in biology, speci cally regarding the applicability of structural realism to biology. Hopefully, this will also lead to insights into how philosophers can in turn be helpful to scientists.
In addition to philosophy, Angella enjoys spending time with her partner of over 15 years, Bradley; spoiling her dog Tola, a lurcher (greyhound cross); spending time with family; playing ultimate frisbee and soccer; adventuring in a D&D campaign; and watching TV shows and movies.
