Graduate Students

I am a new MA student at University of Waterloo, having completed my undergrad at UBC, where I originally studied Cognitive Systems before transferring into philosophy in my third year - continuing a trend of bouncing around between different pursuits that has run through most of my life. I've been an actor, a farmer, a bartender, a cook, and now an academic.

I think philosophy is uniquely well suited to incorporating information from a wide variety of departments and synthesizing that information into theory, an approach I take into my main area(s) of interest, namely political philosophy and the consent of the governed as justification for state action.

j8hughes@uwaterloo.ca

Jonathan holds bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Philosophy and a Master of Management Sciences from Waterloo.  His research interests include social epistemology, how epistemic communities form and function, and how such communities intersect with technology, language, and ethics.

jonathan.woodcock@uwaterloo.ca

Kyra received their Bachelor of Arts in honours philosophy with a minor in cognitive science at the University of Waterloo in 2024. They began self-studying philosophy before high school and fell in love with existentialism early on. Their research interests include the philosophy of mind, philosophy of technology, feminist epistemology, and the many ways these intersect.

kwoodend@uwaterloo.ca 

Cathy Zhu received her Bachelor of Arts in Honours English and Philosophy with a minor in Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2024. Her interest in philosophy lies in the epistemology of ignorance, feminist epistemologies, and the impacts of technology on societies.

c86zhu@uwaterloo.ca
 

Kyle received his Bachelor of Mathematics in Pure Mathematics and Teaching, and his MA in Philosophy, both from the University of Waterloo. Kyle's main interests in philosophy are in philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and especially their overlap in questions of misleadingness and deception.

In math, his areas of interest are graph theory and mathematical logic. Outside math and philosophy, Kyle's biggest pastimes are Dungeons and Dragons, gardening, and listening to power metal.

kk2adams@uwaterloo.ca

Tasneem Alsayyed completed her BA in Philosophy with a minor in Brain 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.

tasneem.alsayyed.ahmad@uwaterloo.ca 

Curtis holds a Bachelor of Arts Honors degree from the University of Waterloo, with a major in Philosophy and a Minor in Political Science.  He recently completed his Master in Philosophy. His main interest lies in political philosophy, and he is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Philosophy. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to music and consuming narrative art.

cjcbrown@uwaterloo.ca

Hello, my name is James Chow. I am currently working on my Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Waterloo. I have completed a Bachelors of Applied Science (Queen’s) and a Masters of Physics (Waterloo) as well as a Master in Philosophy.

My main research interests include philosophy of science (in particular the nature of induction and explanations in sciences like physics and historical linguistics), philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics from both a broad European and Chinese perspective. I also hope to study Platonic, Aristotelian, Confucian, and Daoist ideas of knowledge and ontology during my time at Waterloo.

I am a violinist and self-taught pianist. I have been composing music (primarily piano pieces) for over 9 years. Also, I am an amateur linguist and I have been working on a conlang (constructed language) called Atlenøs Fiyt for over 12 years.

Feel free to email me and we can discuss a myriad of topics over coffee or lunch.

Main Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science and Mathematics, Historical Linguistics, Metaphysics, Chinese & Greek Philosophy, Metaethics.

j36chow@uwaterloo.ca
Pronouns: he/him

Areas of Interest: social metaphysics, American pragmatism, trans philosophy, philosophy of language (specifically pragmatics), and philosophy of medicine.

afgruenewald@uwaterloo.ca

Janet Jones (she/her) is pursuing her PhD 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. 

janet.jones@uwaterloo.ca

George has a BA in Translation (Concordia, 2006), a BA in Philosophy (Waterloo, 2021), and an MA in Philosophy (2022). His interests include the philosophy of science and metaphysical and epistemological issues, as exemplified in quantum physics. His experience in the industry (over 18 years) gives him an informed perspective on ethical and epistemic issues we encounter in organizational systems and technologies. He is a strong proponent of public philosophy and outreach and reflects upon the philosophical method and how it has evolved over the years. George’s MA thesis was on the problem of big data and the creation of ignorance. He practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and enjoys swimming and spending quality time with his children.

gstrouba@uwaterloo.ca