Cameron Shelley

Cameron Shelley is a Lecturer in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He has held Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has previously been a Visiting Scholar at the Philosophy Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Dr. Shelley’s research interests include the philosophy of design, social impact of technology, explanatory and analogical reasoning, and cognitive irony. He has taught a variety of courses including Cities, Technology & Society, Design & Society, Biotechnology & Society, Information Technology & Society, among others.

In addition to his research work, Dr. Shelley has received multiple awards such as the UWaterloo Alumni Association Gold Medal for best Ph.D. dissertation. He has also published various articles that include “Biomorphism and models in design” in Philosophy and Cognitive Science II, “Models and ideology in design” in Model-based reasoning in Science and Technology, “Fairness in technological design” in Science and Engineering Ethics, “Why test animals to treat humans? On the validity of animal models” in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C, and “Hypocrisy as irony” in Metaphor and Symbol. Additionally, Dr. Shelley published a book entitled “Multiple analogies in science and philosophy” with John Benjamins and edited the “Springer Handbook of Model-based Science, Part I: Models in Engineering, Architecture, and Economical & Human Sciences” with Springer.

• Social determinants of technology
• Social impacts of technology
• philosophy of design
• explanatory reasoning
• cognitive irony

• 1999, Doctorate, PhD, University of Waterloo
• 1994, Master's, MA, University of Waterloo
• 1992, Master's, MMath, University of Waterloo
• 1990, Bachelor's, BSc, McMaster University

• STV 202 - Design and Society
  • Taught in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
• STV 305 - Tech, Society & Modern City
  • Taught in 2019, 2020, 2021
• STV 306 - Biotechnology and Society
  • Taught in 2018, 2019, 2020

• Shelley, Cameron, The nature of simplicity in Apple design, The Design Journal, 18(3), 2015, 439 - 456
• Shelley, Cameron, Philosophy and Cognitive Science Ii, , 2015
• Shelley, Cameron, Multiple analogies in archaeology, Philosophy of Science, 66(4), 1999, 579 - 605
• Shelley, Cameron, Ideology in Bio-inspired Design, Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology, , 56 manuscript pages
• Shelley, Cameron, Biomorphism and models in design, Philosophy and Cognitive Science II, , 221 manuscript pages
• Shelley, Cameron, Does Everyone Think, or Is It Just Me?, Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology, , 494 manuscript pages
• Thagard, Paul and Shelley, Cameron, Abductive reasoning: Logic, visual thinking, and coherence, Logic and scientific methods, , 427 manuscript pages
• Shelley, Cameron, Multiple analogies in science and philosophy,
• Shelley, C, Phantoms in the brain: probing the mysteries of the human mind, January

• Currently considering applications from graduate students. A completed online application is required for admission; start the application process now.