Graduate Courses

Winter 2025 

PHIL 674/676 — SEM 001: Cosmology: Plato to Galileo

Responding to their naked-eye observations of the world and divergent philosophical commitments, ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians constructed competing theories of the cosmos’ composition and structure.  This course examines the variety of cosmological theories advanced by ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians as well as their reception from the medieval Islamic tradition to early modern Europe.  Analyzing texts by Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Ptolemy in English translation, students will familiarize themselves with the content and range of ancient Greek cosmologies as well as their relation to various epistemological and metaphysical theories.  In addition, students will examine these cosmologies’ reception by Ibn Tufayl, Copernicus, and Galileo, who responded to earlier cosmologies in light of their own philosophical commitments and, in the case of Galileo, the observation of phenomena inaccessible before the invention of the telescope. 

PHIL 674/676 3SEM 002: Racial Justice Movements

Using Black racial justice movements across the globe as our guide, this seminar will examine the philosophical foundations of the fight for racial equity through the lens of three racial justice movements: 

1. Negritude Movement
2. Black Lives Matter
3. Black Class Action

Grounded in social-political thought and drawing upon Black scholars, popular culture icons, academics, and philosophers, this course will explore various “modes of resistance” including but not limited to letters, interviews, radio, television and film, the creative arts, and public speeches to help us think through broader philosophical ideas about racial justice and the ongoing struggle for racial equity in the Canadian context.

PHIL 673 — SEM 003: Thinking Through Gender: Feminist Perspective on Language

In this course we will explore feminist philosophy of language.  Topics are not yet settled, but may include gendered language, language referring to gender, sexual communication, speech acts and oppression, dogwhistles, and hermeneutical injustice.  The main large piece of writing for the course will be a self-chosen case study of real-world communication (or failure of communication), applying concepts from the class.

PHIL 680 B — SEM 001: Arguments from Analogy (continued)

Arguments from Analogy—which argue for a conclusion on the grounds that the case under consideration is similar in relevant respects to other cases—have a long history in philosophy and a broad scope of application across the discipline. Arguments from analogy are also employed in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. An important philosophical question is how to distinguish good arguments from analogy from bad ones. In this course, we will examine philosophical accounts of analogical reasoning as well as case studies of arguments from analogy. 

Fall 2025 tentative course offerings

PHIL 673/675 — 001: Philosophy of Education: Tool of State or Tool for the Resistance

It is often assumed that education is the great equalizer. And yet, for far too many, access to education has been less than assured. For centuries, philosophers have considered the role education can and should play in society, questioning its purpose, its goals, and its methods. This course aims to bring into conversation centuries-old thoughts on why we teach what we teach and to whom we teach it with more recent thinking on liberatory pedagogies that resist, considering the long-standing social and political impacts of each. Using Black experiences of education as our guide, students will explore the Philosophy of Education through traditional academic readings, as well as more contemporary writings, making use of the short reflections, discussion facilitation, and academic essay writing activities to ground their learning. 

PHIL 673/675 — 002: Feminist Philosophy of Science

In this course, students will explore research on objectivity, bias and values in science, the social nature of scientific research, and other central concepts in feminist philosophy of science. Students will use these concepts to investigate and evaluate scientific research on sex, sexuality, and race from policy relevant and socially relevant perspectives. Course content will focus on the work of Helen Longino, starting with her early and influential feminist research and ending with a forthcoming edited volume of new research, produced by an international group of philosophers, that extends and applies Longino’s philosophy to a wide range of topics. This course will run as a seminar. The professor will guide students through close readings and discussions of texts and mentor students while they develop and communicate their philosophical arguments and interpretations of this work. This course will be useful for students with a wide range of philosophical interests and career goals, including those interested in science and technology, ethics and social theory, and evidenced-based policy.

PHIL 680A — Academic Freedom

The Pro-Seminar has two components, professionalization and philosophical content.  In the professionalization portion, we'll talk about things like how to navigate the graduate program, writing funding applications, giving talks, asking questions, how to be a helpful and successful philosopher, but also how to apply philosophical skills outside academia.  Our philosophical focus will be on academic freedom, an always important but increasingly contentious notion.  We will examine its history, its relationship to freedom of expression, how it is understood in various legal and academic contexts, and current debates related to academic freedom, both within and outside academia.

Winter 2026 tentative course offerings

PHIL 673/675 — 001: Equality, Sufficiency, and Limit

In social and political philosophy, egalitarians oppose inequalities they argue are unfair, sufficientarians argue for an unconditional guarantee of a decent life for all, and limitarians explain why it is bad if some people have too much. What are the merits of each view? Are they competitors or complementary? What are the key objections, including relational critiques?

PHIL 673/675 — 002: Fairness and Anti-Discrimination in AI

This course focuses on fairness and anti-discrimination in the context of algorithms and AI. Some forms of algorithmic discrimination arise even when algorithms have no access to information about features such as gender and race; this may happen because correlations in the data due to existing inequities lead to discriminatory outcomes. For example, if those in oppressed groups face discrimination in hiring and promotion, hiring algorithms may predict they will be less successful; on this basis, they may be less likely to be hired, leading to further oppression. Informally, it is said that algorithms "bake in" background social injustice. Through readings from philosophers, legal theorists, computer scientists, and others, we will consider how philosophical views of fairness and oppression apply to these contexts, how algorithmic unfairness and discrimination have been or should be defined, and how algorithmic oppression could be addressed and eliminated. 

PHIL 680 B — Academic Freedom (continued)

The Pro-Seminar has two components, professionalization and philosophical content.  In the professionalization portion, we'll talk about things like how to navigate the graduate program, writing funding applications, giving talks, asking questions, how to be a helpful and successful philosopher, but also how to apply philosophical skills outside academia.  Our philosophical focus will be on academic freedom, an always important but increasingly contentious notion.  We will examine its history, its relationship to freedom of expression, how it is understood in various legal and academic contexts, and current debates related to academic freedom, both within and outside academia.