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Ethical Challenges Associated with Pragmatic and Cluster RCTs
Sept 19, 2024
Today’s New England Journal of Medicine features the work of Charles Weijer on the ethics of randomized controlled trials. Pragmatic and cluster RCTs offer opportunities for advancing research but present ethical challenges. They argue that addressing these challenges requires multidisciplinary expertise and meaningful collaboration. Each week the New England Journal of Medicine is read by more than a million health providers in nearly every country in the world. The article can be accessed here (free registration required):
CIHR funding boost helps answer challenging questions that could save lives
By Cam Buchan, September 2024
There are approximately 1,400 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant in Ontario, and every three days someone will die while waiting, according to data from .
And Dr. Charles Weijer, MD, PhD, is in the middle of the fray.
“These are preventable deaths,” said Weijer, a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Philosophy, and an internationally recognized expert in research ethics. “If we had more organs, those people probably would have survived.”
One particular pathway to organ donation, called circulatory determination of death (CDD) is the process of declaring a person dead based on the permanent cessation of blood circulation and heart function. Unfortunately, organs used for donation will be damaged due to loss of oxygen and nutrients.
The technique in question, called Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP), can improve the quality and quantity of organs recovered for donation once a patient has been declared dead by circulatory determination of death (CCD).
Read the full story
Philosophers on Vacation!
Anthony Skelton:
In June, I attended the 17th Conference of the International Society for Utilitarian Studies to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Sidgwick's The Methods of Ethics. The highlight was the author-meets-critics session on my forthcoming book Sidgwick's Ethics. I gave two other papers, one on Sidgwick's politics and one on Sidgwick's feminism.
In August, I holidayed on the west coast of Canada and the US. The highlight was the Museum of Population Culture in Seattle where I had my picture snapped with the Terminator!
Corey Dyck:
During the Summer I spent a month in Hamburg where I spent a fair bit of time in the Staatsarchiv doing research on the extant writings of Elise Reimarus, a pedagogue and philosopher active in Hamburg in the late 18th and early 19th century. The archive holds a number of letters written to and by her, as well as other texts that she wrote, on political philosophy for instance, but did not publish. I took a break from archival research to give a talk at the university in Turin, in northern Italy, where this photo is taken. I am standing in front of a building where Friedrich Nietzsche resided while he wrote Ecce Homo (his last complete work), which overlooks the square where he had his well-known nervous breakdown in 1889 that marked the end of his intellectual activity (and the beginning of his fame).
Rob Stainton:
I have long suffered from Bipolar Disorder and, sadly, had to spend some of the summer in hospital. Less sadly, the hospital stay put me on the road to recovery. Indeed, I was well enough to attend the World Congress of Philosophy in Rome in August and to go on a fly-in fishing trip way up in northern Ontario in July. I'm shown here with a giant pike caught on a very tiny rod.
Tracy Isaacs:
This summer, in addition to continuing the work of my portfolio as Special Advisor to the Provost on GBSV, I did the usual summer academic things—worked on a paper, caught up on some reading, met with students about their work, and finalized some page proofs for a forthcoming publication. In early June, I got married in Newfoundland. And then in late June and early July I went on a photography tour of Brittany and Normandie, starting and ending in Paris, with a few days right before the tour in Bruges.
Philosophy Grad wins Beer Honour
June 27, 2024 London Free Press
For most teens, those first few beers are usually little more than an introduction to a party.
For Londoner Jennifer Tamse, it was an introduction to a lifelong passion and a career that has culminated in being named an honorary beer knight, an honour bestowed from the prestigious Confederation of Belgium Brewers.
Tamse, 36, was honoured at a recent beer festival in Montreal where the Belgium brewers bestowed upon her the knighthood. Annually, a select group from around the globe are recognized for promoting the beers of Belgium, being inducted into the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Paddle, otherwise known as the Belgian Brewers’ Guild.
“It was a tremendous honour to be recognized,” she said. “They presented me with an honorary certificate and a beautiful medal and I had to swear to the knighthood that I am one of them and will continue to educate everyone globally about Belgian beer.”
Tamse was at studying philosophy and her passion for beer came in handy when she took a part-time job at the old APK Live bar downtown that has since closed.
Remembering Kathleen Okruhlik
June 7, 2024
We are deeply saddened by the death of Kathleen Okruhlik. She suffered a stroke in early May and then passed away on June 6.
A long-time, devoted member of our department, Kathleen was also Dean of Arts (which became Arts and Humanities during her tenure) from 1999 to 2008. And she was a founding member of the Women’s Studies and Feminist Research program at 澳门六合彩开奖预测, what is now the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.
To all those who knew her, she was a friend, a colleague, a mentor, an ally, a person of principle and conviction, and a tireless advocate for our department, our Faculty, and our university.
Her family has indicated that there will be no funeral or memorial service; however, we would welcome your reminiscences for a memorial page.
With sympathies for all who share in this loss.
Congratulations to Rosie Smith, winner of the 2023-24 Chair's Essay Prize in Philosophy
June 10, 2024
Congratulations to Rosie Smith, winner of the 2023-24 Chair's Essay Prize in Philosophy for her essay, “Arendt’s Caution: Rethinking the 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Ideology on Global Gender Justice”. The paper was written for Professor Helen Fielding's Continental Philosophy course, Philosophy 3555G. Congratulations on this achievement Rosie!
Congratulations to Jasmine Kordbacheh, winner of the 2023-24 Robert A. Parker Book Prize
April 19, 2024
We are pleased to announce that Jasmine Kordbacheh is this year’s Robert A. Parker Book Prize winner.
The criteria for this award states: Student must be in Year 2 or higher of a four-year degree program with an Honors Specialization, Specialization, or Major in Philosophy who demonstrates academic achievement (minimum 80% academic average) and an interest in or pursuit of a career in business or commerce.
Value: One book and $250 award
Jasmine demonstrates academic excellence while pursuing her dual degrees with the Ivey Business School and Philosophy.
She accredits success within her business internship positions due to her Philosophy courses, where she developed skills in critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation.
Congratulations Jasmine!
Carolyn McLeod Named Distinguished University Professor
Three renowned 澳门六合彩开奖预测 faculty members have been named Distinguished University Professors in recognition of their leadership, research excellence and community service. Established in 2005, The Distinguished University Professor Award recognizes sustained excellence in scholarship over a substantial career at 澳门六合彩开奖预测. Scholarship is broadly defined to include research, teaching and service to the community.
Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) Undergraduate Conference 2024
Date: Friday, March 22, 2024
Location: Stevenson Hall, Room 1140/1145
Time: 2:00 - 5:30pm
Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) aims to examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy. Though primarily led by graduate students, MAP also relies on faculty support and encourages undergraduate participation. This conference serves as an opportunity to showcase the excellent work being done by undergraduate students here at 澳门六合彩开奖预测.
Ethics Bowl
On Feb. 3, 2024, 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Philosophy hosted a regional high school Ethics Bowl in which 6 high school teams competed. The event was a big success thanks to our on-site organizers, Chris Viger and Elisa Kilbourne, our many other volunteers, and of course the students who participated and showed off their debating skills. The winning team was Assumption Socrates’s Smarties. Congratulations to them!
PHD Student Success
Congratulations to our PhD students, Hershy Jaiprakash and Amy MacKinnon, and former postdocs Sarah Arnaud and Jacob Neal, for the publication of their article, “Valuing patient perspectives in the context of eating disorders” in the journal, Eating and Weight Disorders—Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia, and Obesity. Check it out
Job news
In job news, Jaclyn Rekis has secured a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under David Enoch, as part of his . She starts Feb. 1st, 2024.
On behalf of the department, congratulations and all the very best for the postdoc, Jaclyn!
Time to Attach
November 29, 2023
On November 29th, Prof. Carolyn McLeod spoke as a witness before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) in its analysis of Bill : An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (adoptive and intended parents).
Prof. McLeod was the lead author of a report called “,” which she wrote along with Prof. Lorraine Davies and eight graduate students, mostly from Philosophy and including two of our current students, Emily Cichocki and Jaclyn Rekis.
The report was written for Ontario’s Adoptive Parents Association (now Ontario’s Association for kin, customary care, and adoptive parents and caregivers) and the Adoption Council of Canada (now the Child and Youth Permanency Council of Canada). It formed the foundation of a multi-year advocacy campaign by these organizations, which was finally successful this fall in convincing the federal government to add additional leave benefits for adoptive parents (see its , pp. 42-43).
An update: 澳门六合彩开奖预测 News reported on the success of McLeod’s research team on Dec. 13, 2023 () and this article was featured in Inside 澳门六合彩开奖预测 on Dec. 22, 2023 ().
Global Undergraduate Awards Winners in Philosophy
Sept 14, 2023
A BIG congratulations to Nathalie DiBerardino, who was the Global Winner in the Philosophy category for the Global Undergrad Awards! Excellent work Nathalie.
We are also very proud of Kseniya Dybatch, whose paper that won our Chair’s Essay Prize last year was “highly commended” for the GUA. Fantastic Kseniya.
We’re lucky to have great students in Philosophy at 澳门六合彩开奖预测!
Passing of Cate Hundleby
Aug 29, 2023
The department was very saddened to learn of the death of Cate Hundleby, who completed her PhD in Philosophy with us under the supervision of Kathleen Okruhlik. Cate was a tireless contributor to the feminist philosophy community in Canada and beyond, and she published important work in feminist epistemology and the philosophy of argumentation. She will be deeply missed, especially by former colleagues of hers who are or were feminist philosophers at 澳门六合彩开奖预测: Kathleen, Samantha Brennan, Helen Fielding, Tracy Isaacs, and Carolyn McLeod. See
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Philosophy Student Letter Published in the New York Times
Current 澳门六合彩开奖预测 Philosophy student Nathalie DiBerardino's letter has recently been published in "Letter to the Editor" with The New York Times! Nathalie will be joining our graduate program this autumn.
Angela Armitt Gold Medal Recipient
May 31, 2023
Congratulations to Steve Russell, BA Honours Philosophy, for winning the Angela Armitt Gold Medal for the highest graduation GPA among part-time students from all programs at 澳门六合彩开奖预测 this June 2023!
Congratulations to Kseniya Dybatch, winner of the 2022-23 Chair's Essay Prize in Philosophy
May 2, 2023
Congratulations to Kseniya Dybatch, winner of the 2022-23 Chair's Essay Prize in Philosophy for her essay, “Female-Presenting Bodies, Spatiality, and the Role of Internet Ideologies.”. The paper was written for Professor Helen Fielding's course. Congratulations on this achievement Kseniya!
SSHRC Success
26 April, 2023
Carolyn McLeod's SSHRC Insight grant application, “Institutional Distrust and Injustice,” was recently successful and so was a SSHRC Connections grant from Chris Smeenk, “Foundations of Quantum Field Theory.” Congratulations to both!
3M Thesis Event
Apr 20, 2023
The 2023 3M Thesis Event was very successful! Thanks to Jackie for organizing the talks and to Elisa, Meghan, and Sarah for getting everything ready behind the scenes. And thanks to the presenters for sharing your thesis projects with us. Our hope is that in the future, all PhD students will summarize their thesis in 3 minutes for this event.
Tenure-track Hire
Apr 6, 2023
The department is thrilled to announce that it has hired Jasmine Gunkel () into a probationary tenure-track position. Jasmine is just completing her PhD now at the University of Southern California. She will join us at 澳门六合彩开奖预测 after doing a prestigious postdoc in bioethics at the NIH (National Institutes of Health).
MAP Conference
Apr 5, 2023
澳门六合彩开奖预测's Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) chapter held its annual Undergraduate Conference on March 24th. Our graduate students who are MAP representatives and who organized this conference were pleased to hold it in person for the first time in several years. Reflecting the commitments of MAP, the theme of the conference broadly focused on the philosophy of gender, race, sexuality, class, and disability.
Philosophy Outreach to Ontario and London High Schools (2022-23)
As part of our outreach efforts, we have done substantial engagement this academic year with philosophy high-school classes and students.
In November, we brought to 澳门六合彩开奖预测’s campus students from Central Catholic High School for World Philosophy Day and treated them to talks by three of our faculty members—Tracy Isaacs, Dennis Klimchuk, and Chris Smeenk. Our high-school liaison, Ben Hill, MCed this event.
Then in March, four of our faculty members—Mike Anderson, Robert DiSalle, Rob Stainton, and Chris Viger—travelled to Toronto to serve as judges at the Ontario High School Ethics Bowl (https://www.ontarioethicsbowl.com). They described this experience as “delightful” and the students as “amazingly smart and talented.” Thanks to Corey Dyck and Dean Michael Milde, our department is now a partner and official sponsor of the Ethics Bowl, which is a yearly event.
Also in March, our chair, Carolyn McLeod, and five of our graduate students—Jacob Fawez Abiad, Clair Baleshta, Owen Chevalier, Lindsay Hachey, and Mehmet Nuri Sagbilge—visited A. B. Lucas Secondary School to talk with philosophy students there about taking philosophy at university. This event was also wonderful and wonderfully supported by Lucas’s philosophy teacher, Julianna Beaudoin.
