Katie Plaisance

Professor and Associate Director, Knowledge Integration School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability

Cross-appointments:

  • Philosophy
  • Psychology

Areas of interest

  • Philosophy of science
  • Philosophy of the human behavioural sciences
  • Socially relevant philosophy of science
  • Social epistemology
  • Interactional expertise
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration
Katie Plaisance

Contact information

Phone: 519-888-4567, ext. 48612
Office: Environment 1 (EV1), room 214
Email: kathryn.plaisance@uwaterloo.ca
If you are contacting Katie in her capacity as Associate Chair/ Director of Knowledge Integration, please use ki.ug.associatechair@uwaterloo.ca

Kathryn Plaisance website

Publications

For PDF copies of any publications, please email Katie Plaisance.

Selected Publications

  • Plaisance, Kathryn S. (2026), “Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science,” in Routledge Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Science after Kant, edited by Flavia Padovani and Adam Tamas Tuboly, 102-112. Routledge Press.
  • Doody, Sara, and Kathryn S. Plaisance (2025), “What is ‘Good’ Science? How Disciplinary Norms and Expectations Discourage Broad Interdisciplinary Collaboration,” Perspectives on Science, 1-37.  https://doi.org/10.1162/POSC.a.566
  • Plaisance, Kathryn S. and Kevin C. Elliott (2021), “A Framework for Broadly Engaged Philosophy of Science,” Philosophy of Science vol 88 (4): 594-615 https://doi.org/10.1086/713891
  • Plaisance, Kathryn S., Jay Michaud, and John McLevey (2021), “Pathways of Influence: Understanding the Impact of Philosophy of Science in Scientific Domains,” Synthese, 199: 4865-4896. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-020-03007-1
  • Plaisance, Kathryn S. (2020), “The Benefits of Acquiring Interactional Expertise: Why (Some) Philosophers of Science Should Engage Scientific Communities,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 83: 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2020.03.002
  • Plaisance, Kathryn S., Alexander V. Graham, John McLevey, and Jay Michaud (2019), “Show Me the Numbers: A Quantitative Portrait of the Attitudes, Experiences, and Values of Philosophers of Science Regarding Broadly Engaged Work,” Synthese, 198: 4603-4633. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02359-7
  • Plaisance, Kathryn S., and Eric B. Kennedy (2014), “A Pluralistic Approach to Interactional Expertise”, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 47: 60-68.
  • Fehr, Carla, and Kathryn S. Plaisance (2010), “Socially Relevant Philosophy of Science: An Introduction”, Synthese, vol. 177(3): 301-316.

Selected grants, fellowships, awards

  • SSHRC Insight Grant, 2020-26, “Engaging Science with Philosophy: Best Practices for Fostering Effective Collaboration” ($188,179)
  • Templeton Grant, 2017-2019, “Understanding ‘What Could Be’: Heritability in a Randomized Twin Design” ($425,000 USD)
  • SSHRC Insight Development Grant, 2016-2018, “Increasing the Impact of Philosophy of Science in Scientific Domains” ($59,302 CAD)
  • Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Teaching Excellence Award, 2022
  • University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award, 2016