Course enrollment processes
Course enrolment begins with course selection, which happens early in the term before the term of study (so Sept for the Winter term, January for the Spring term and May for the Fall term). Course selection is your "wish list". The courses you prioritize for your program. The University takes everyone's wish list and tries to create a conflict-free schedule for as many students as possible. Although asynchronous online courses do not pose an issue for conflicts, they are highly desired and therefore getting on the course selection list for an online course is mandatory to obtain a seat.
After course selection, students are pre-slotted into courses on their "wish list." The next stage is open enrolment; this is where anyone who hasn't participated in course selection can register for courses.
Finally, there is the add/drop period. This is where you can rearrange your schedule, change your mind about a course or swap a course for a different one. While you can wait until 2 weeks into term to drop a course, you may not get a full refund if you miss the deadline, so it is important to pay attention to the deadlines.
Tip: We strongly encourage you to participate in the Course Selection process if you want to obtain a seat in online courses or other popular courses.
Primary resources for course information
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Schedule of Classes (enrolment caps and class times)
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Quest (instructors and campus locations)
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Undergraduate calendar (descriptions and pre-requisites)
Secondary resource for Philosophy course offerings
Winter 2027 Featured Courses
PHIL 205 Philosophy of Economics
PHIL 216 Probability & Decision Making
PHIL 265 The Existential Experience
PHIL 302 / GSJ 300 Feminisms for Social Justice
PHIL 202 / GSJ 222: Gender Issues — Topic: Transgender in the Time of Trump
This course is a philosophical investigation into sex and gender via a focus on the current global political backlash against trans people. In addition to exploring the nature of trans oppression, we engage with prevalent anti-trans arguments and provide responses to them. Some of our topics include (1) the nature of gender (“What is a woman?”, “What is a man?”), (2) sex-segregation (“Should trans women be allowed into intimate female spaces”), and (3) gender-affirming care (“Should trans adults and trans youth have access to it”). The content of this course will often be highly charged and sometimes disturbing. To be sure, this content will also be framed and contextualized. However, students who do not wish to engage with such content are advised in advance.
PHIL 252 / SCI 252: Quantum Mechanics for Everyone
Quantum mechanics is driving a technological revolution, and here in Waterloo we have front-row seats. This course offers an introduction to the basic concepts of quantum mechanics from a historical and philosophical perspective. Topics will include Schrödinger's cat paradox, the debate between Einstein and Bohr, “spooky action at a distance,” and quantum computers. No background in mathematics or physics will be presupposed. Assessments will be in the form of quizzes and short written assignments. The goal of the course is to supply the background needed to understand some of the principles behind the cutting-edge research being carried out at the Perimeter Institute and the University of Waterloo.
PHIL 400: Philosophy as Practice topic: Gamefication and Value Capture
This course gives students a chance to develop high-level philosophical skills and will culminate in student presentations of original work at a mini-conference. Its core text will be Thi Nguyen’s The Score, which tackles the way that metrics and gamification influence our values and behaviour. Playing to win can make games fun, and gamification can help us to motivate ourselves. But too much focus on winning can sap the enjoyment out of an activity, and trying to meet numerical goals can end up distorting our priorities. Students will develop their own takes on these issues though independent and collective engagement with Nguyen’s work, and with other work on these topics.
PHIL 402 / GSJ 402: Beyond Euromodern Personhood
We are excited to offer this course as taught by Naomi Scheman from the University of Minnesota who is our visiting Humphry Professor.
European modernity required—and modern European philosophy articulated—conceptions of personhood that could ground the emerging (albeit exceedingly limited) democratizing forms of economic, religious, political, and epistemic authority. The progress of liberalism has—with varying degrees of success—consisted in struggles of various Others to be included in conceptions of personhood originally taken to apply only to heterosexual, cis-gendered, able-body-minded, affluent, Christian, European men. But, in contrast, feminist and other forms of liberatory theory and activism are increasingly challenging those conceptions. After some background, including Sylvia Wynter’s “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, After Man, Its Overrepresentation—An Argument”, we will engage with three recently published books that take different approaches to rejecting or reconceptualizing personhood:
Ladelle McWhorter, Unbecoming Persons: The Rise and Demise of the Modern Moral Self
Lisa Heldke, Parasitic Personhood and the Ontology of Eating
Talia Bettcher, Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy
Compete Winter 2027 Course offering List
| course code | course title | course location |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 101 | Challenging Ideas: Intro to Philosophy |
on campus |
| Knowledge and Reality: Intro to Philosophy |
online |
|
| PHIL 121 | Moral Issues | on campus |
| PHIL 125 | Happiness | on campus |
| PHIL 145 | Critical Thinking |
on campus online |
| PHIL 201 | Philosophy of Sex and Love |
online |
| PHIL 202 / GSJ 222 | Gender Issues | On campus |
| PHIL 205 | Philosophy of Economics | on campus |
| PHIL 215 | Professional Business Ethics | on campus |
| PHIL 216 | Probability and Decision-Making | on campus |
| PHIL 221 | Ethics |
online |
| PHIL 226 | Biomedical Ethics |
online |
| PHIL 240 | Intro to Formal Logic |
online |
| PHIL 251 | Metaphysics and Epistemology | on campus |
| PHIL 252 / SCI 252 | Quantum Mechanics for Everyone | on campus |
| PHIL 262J | Postmodernist Philosophy | St Jerome's |
| PHIL 265 | The Existentialist Experience | on campus |
| PHIL 283 | Great Works: Ancient and Medieval | St. Jerome's |
| PHIL 291 | Social Nature of Knowledge | on campus |
| PHIL 302 / GSJ 300 | Feminisms for Social Justice | on campus |
| PHIL 327 | Philosophy of Law |
St. Jerome's online |
| PHIL 400 | Philosophy as Practice: Gamefication and Value Capture | on campus |
| PHIL 402 / GSJ 402 |
Topic: Beyond Euromodern Personhood |
on campus |
| PHIL 404 | Studies in Medieval Philosophy | St. Jerome's |
| PHIL 447 / PSYCH 447 | Cognitive Science Seminar | on campus |
| PHIL 471 | Happiness and Wellbeing | on campus |
Please click the course code for the complete calendar description of each course. To see Saint Jerome's Philosophy offerings, visit the Schedule of Classes
Projected Course offerings 2026 - 2029
NOTE: Below is a projection of in-person core and popular course offerings that is meant to assist you in planning how and when you might meet your academic requirements. While we aim to deliver these courses during the projected time slots, there are always unforeseen circumstances that can interfere with this. Please understand that this list is tentative and subject to change.
|
course |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHIL 101: Challenging Ideas |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
|
PHIL 110A: Intro to Philosophy: Knowledge and Reality (ONLINE) |
Winter | Winter | Winter | Winter |
| PHIL 110B: Intro to Philosophy: Ethics and Values (ONLINE) | Fall | Fall | Fall | |
| PHIL 121: Moral Issues |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring |
Winter Fall |
Winter Spring |
| PHIL 125: Happiness | Winter | Winter | Winter | |
| PHIL 145: Critical Thinking |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter |
| PHIL 145: Critical Thinking (ONLINE) | Fall |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring |
| PHIL 201: Philosophy of Sex and Love (ONLINE) |
Winter Spring |
Winter Spring |
Fall Winter Spring |
Spring |
| PHIL 202: Gender Issues | Winter | Winter | ||
| PHIL 205: Philosophy of Economics | Winter |
Fall |
||
| PHIL 206: Philosophy of Sport | Winter | Winter |
Winter Fall |
|
| PHIL 215: Business Ethics |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter Fall |
Winter |
| PHIL 215: Business Ethics (ONLINE) |
Spring Fall |
Spring Fall |
Spring Fall |
Spring |
| PHIL 216: Probability and Decision-Making | Spring |
Winter Fall |
Spring | |
| PHIL 221: Ethics | Fall | Fall | Fall | |
| PHIL 221: Ethics (ONLINE) | Winter | Winter | Winter | |
| PHIL 226: Biomedical Ethics |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring Fall |
Winter Spring |
| PHIL 226: Biomedical Ethics (ONLINE) | Winter | Winter | Winter | |
| PHIL 228: Ethics and AI | Spring | Winter | Spring | |
| PHIL 240: Intro to Formal Logic | Fall |
Fall |
Fall | |
| PHIL 240: Intro to Formal Logic (ONLINE) | Winter | Winter | Winter | Winter |
| PHIL 246: Scientific Revolutions | Spring | Winter | ||
| PHIL 251: Metaphysics and Epistemology | Winter | Winter | Winter | Winter |
| PHIL 251: Metaphysics and Epistemology (ONLINE) | Fall | Fall | Fall | |
| PHIL 252: Quantum Mechanics for Everyone | Winter |
Winter Fall |
||
| PHIL 255: Philosophy of Mind | Winter | |||
| PHIL 256/ PSYCH 256:Intro to Cognitive Science (ONLINE) |
Spring Fall |
Spring Fall |
Spring Fall |
Spring |
| PHIL 257: Philosophy of Math | Winter | Winter | ||
| PHIL 258: Philosophy of Science |
Winter |
Winter Fall |
||
| PHIL 260: Ancient Science |
Winter Spring |
Winter Fall |
Winter | |
| PHIL 265: The Existential Experience | Winter | |||
| PHIL 283: Great Works: Ancient and Medieval | Winter | Winter | ||
| PHIL 283: Great Works: Ancient and Medieval (ONLINE) | Spring | Spring | Spring | Spring |
| PHIL 302: Topics in Feminist Philosophy |
Winter |
Winter | ||
| PHIL 324: Social And Political Philosophy (ONLINE) | Spring | Spring | Spring | Spring |
| PHIL 327: Philosophy of Law |
Spring |
Spring Fall |
Spring | Spring |
| PHIL 327: Philosophy of Law (ONLINE) | Winter | Winter | Winter | Winter |
| PHIL 328: Human Rights | Winter | Winter | ||
| PHIL 329: Violence, Non-violence and War | Spring | |||
| PHIL 350: Topics in Epistemology | Fall | |||
| PHIL 356: Intelligence in Machines, Humans, and Other Animals | Winter | |||
| PHIL 358: Topics in Philosophy of Science | Fall | |||
| PHIL 363: Philosophy of Language | Fall | Winter | Winter | |
| PHIL 384: History of Modern Philosophy (ONLINE) | Fall | Fall | Fall | |
| PHIL 400: Philosophy as Practice | Winter | Winter | Winter |
This list is not a complete list as it does not include any of our online course offerings. Online courses, as well as additional in-person course offerings, are added to the list closer to the term in which they are offered. Therefore, the furthest course projections will appear to be the leanest as there are more additions to come.
Course offerings vary slightly from term to term. For the official calendar descriptions, see the Undergraduate Calendar
St. Jerome's University also offers Philosophy courses. The St Jerome's Philosophy course offerings are indicated in the Schedule of Classes with the suffix "J" under the course location.