Wolfe Chair of Scientific and Technological Literacy

Carla Fehr works in the areas of socially relevant philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and feminist epistemology. Her research examines the social nature of scientific research. Simply put, she argues that diversity promotes excellence. Scientific communities that include members from a diversity of social and material locations, and members who hold different theoretical perspectives, facilitate research that is more creative, more rigorous, and better able to meet the needs of a wide range of publics and policy makers, than homogeneous scientific communities. This means that research communities ought to value diversity not only for ethical and political reasons, but also because it makes our science better. She is also interested in exploring ways to foster this diversity. She conducts research in feminist philosophy of biology, in which she develops critiques of biological accounts of sex differences in human cognition and in the division of labour. Understanding this sex difference research is particularly important because it has frequently been used to justify the relative absence of women in science and technology careers. She works in the epistemology of ignorance, exploring why smart people of goodwill resist acknowledging the how race, gender and other social categories structure both our knowledge producing institutions and the knowledge that we produce in those institutions. This work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on research in sociology and psychology. Dr. Fehr’s research program has explicit and direct, practical and policy implications. These implications range from equitably setting national research priorities, to creating a positive culture in academic professional organizations, to developing and implementing university policies that promote the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty, to the development of departmental climates in which all faculty members are enabled to do their best work. Dr. Fehr frequently consults on climate issues and flexible career policies within the academy. She is a founder of the American Philosophical Association, Committee on the Status of Women, Site Visit Program. This program is a resource for philosophy departments across the USA and Canada who would like to improve the climate for women philosophers. She is also the Chair of the Status of Women and Equity Committee at the University of Waterloo.

Waterloo Chair in Science and Society

Heather Douglas's current research focuses on the interface between science and policy, including the use of science in policy-making and policies for science. Examination of these areas sharpens our general understanding of the nature of science. For example, I have argued that the value-free ideal for science is an inadequate ideal, for both epistemic and moral reasons arising from the importance of science for policy-making. Articulating an alternative ideal is a central part of my recent book. Because values are important to the process of science, new roles for the public in that process become apparent. I also work on the moral responsibilities of scientists with respect to their work, how to understand scientific integrity, and how the institutional structures of science help or hinder scientists in doing their work with integrity and responsibility. In addition, I work on how to combine or weigh evidence from multiple disciplinary perspectives, which has implications for scientific reasoning generally. Finally, I have an ongoing interest in the history of philosophy of science, particularly how the discipline of philosophy of science emerged in the mid-20th century from the logical empiricist movements of the early 20th century, and how that emergence has shaped the field.

Assistant Professor, Centre for Knowledge Integration

Katie Plaisance's current research focuses on the philosophical issues in the human behavioral sciences, public understanding of science, interactional expertise, and Socially Relevant Philosophy Of Science (SRPOS).

Science and Technology in Society Teaching Group

Interested in how science, technology, and society interact? Find out more information about the Science and Technology in Society Teaching Group professors and the undergraduate courses they teach at the University of Waterloo.

Feminism and Science Research Group

In the Feminism and Science Research Group we conduct research that is unified by attention to justice and the social nature of scientific, technological and medical research. We are interested in research policy, practice, education and implementation. Details