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Our department hosts a full colloquium series every Fall and Winter semester, featuring exciting speakers from a variety of philosophical subfields. The colloquium can also be taken as a graduate level course (PHIL 5701/5751), where our M.A. students prepare for talks with assigned readings and then subsequently write papers on the talks.

Register for the Colloquium series by filling out the form here.

Colloquium Archives

Winter 2026 Colloquium

Jan. 30
Melissa Frankel (�Ӱ�ԭ�� University), “Madness and dreaming in and beyond the Meditations“
2:30pm – 4pm, PA 115
Following M.A. Research Day

Feb. 13
Haley Brennan (New York University), “Are Two Selves Too Many Selves?: A Puzzle about the Relation Between Selves in Kant”
1:30pm – 3pm, RB 2420R

Feb. 27
T.Y. Branch (Leibniz University Hannover), “Openness and Transparency: Attitudes and Accountability”
1:30pm – 3pm, RB 2420R

Mar. 6
Joshua Shepherd  (Universität Autònoma de Barcelona), “Creativity, AI, and Agentic Scaffolding“
1:30pm – 3pm, RB 2420R

Mar. 27
Olivia Kamgain (�Ӱ�ԭ�� University), “Descriptive Representatives as Aspirational Decision-Makers“
1:30pm – 3pm, RB 2420R

Fall 2026 Colloquium

Friday, Sept. 26
Kyla Bruff (�Ӱ�ԭ�� University)
“How do we become the kind of people who do not contribute to ecological destruction? Nature and Subjectivity Between Schelling and Adorno”

Friday, Oct. 31
Andrew Lee (University of Toronto)
“A Theory of Sense-Data”

Friday, Nov. 14
Maushumi Guha (Jadavpur University)
“First, second and third: Perspectives on others”

Thursday, Nov. 20 
Meena Krishnamurthy (Queen’s University)
World Philosophy Day Event at the University of Ottawa, Panel discussion on her book The Emotion of Nonviolence: Revisiting Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
5:30 pm – 8pm, Belairdirect Hall of Alex Tribek Alumni Hall at U of Ottawa, 157 Séraphin-Marion Private, Ottawa, ON K1N 7K2

Friday, Nov. 28
Karl Hefty (Saint Paul University)
“Phenomenology of Life and the Question of God: What Does One Mean for the Other?”

Winter 2025 Colloquium

January 17
Rob Stainton
Western University
On the Autonomy of Knowledge of Language
1:30pm
3220 RB

February 28
Natalie Stoljar
McGill University
Resisters and Endorsers: Praiseworthy moral exemplars and autonomy
1:30pm
3220 RB

March 7
EPAF Conference
Patti Tamara Lenard – EPAF Conference Keynote
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa
Refugees in our City: The Impact of their Displacement on our Public Spaces
4:15pm
Dunton Tower 2017

March 14
Tad Zawidzki and Rémi Tison
George Washington University
Human vs. Artificial Social Cognition and Metacognition: The Normative Difference
1:30pm
3220 RB

March 21
Elliot Samuel Paul
Queen’s University
The Paradox of Creative Agency
11:30am
3110 RB

Fall 2024 Colloquium

September 20th
Josh Redstone
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
“Empathy with Social Robots: Perspectives from Philosophy”
1:30pm
3220 RB

October 11
Alexander Klein
McMaster University
“The Bodily Basis of the Feeling of Effort: Condemned to Repeat the Past?”
1:30pm
3220 RB

October 18
Sara Aronowitz
University of Toronto
“Towards a Bounded Rationality of Reversal Learning”
1:30pm
3220 RB

November 8
Jonathan Simon
Université de Montréal
“The Moral Case for the Determinacy of Consciousness”
1:30pm
3220 RB

November 21
World Philosophy Day!
5:30pm -7:30pm
2017 DT
The speakers:
Shireen Hassim (History and African Studies, �Ӱ�ԭ��), specializes in feminist theory and African politics,
Roopen Majithia (Philosophy, Mount Allison) specializes in Indian philosophy,
Eric Hutton (Philosophy, University of Utah) specializes in Chinese philosophy

Winter 2024 Colloquium

January 26
Sean J. McGrath
Memorial University
“The Sclerosis of Sense: On the Marginalization of Primordial Symbols”
2:30pm
2017 Dunton Tower

February 9
Nick Treanor
University of Edinburgh
“On the Very Idea of an Elite Conceptual Scheme”
1:00pm
3038 Nicol Building

March 1
Marie-Pier Lemay
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
“Responsive Solidarity and the Global Movement Against Gender-Based Violence.”
1:00pm
4040 Nicol Building

March 8
Jennifer Llewellyn
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Alliance
“Restorative Justice and the Transformation of Criminal Justice & Public Safety”
1:00pm
2017 Dunton Tower

March 21
Martha M. Ertman (University of Maryland) and Jiří Přibáň (Cardiff University)
“Reimagining the Social Contract: Perspectives from Legal Philosophy”
4:30
Pigiarvik (ᐱᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ) 608 (Senate Room)

Fall 2023 Colloquium

September 22
Deborah Poff
Editor, Journal of Scholarly Publishing, Past Chair, Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
Misconduct and Publication Ethics: From Ordinary Forms of Discrimination to the Ethically Opaque World of AI
Ottawa time: 1:00pm
3224 Richcraft Hall

October 20
Kerry O‘Neill
McMaster University
Conditional Cash Transfers as Third-party State Exploitation 
Ottawa time: 1:00pm
3224 Richcraft Hall

November 3
Kevin Lande
York University
The Spatial Unity of Perception 
Ottawa time: 1:00pm
3224 Richcraft Hall

November 17
Special World Philosophy Day Colloquium
Todd Calder
Saint Mary’s University
Evil, Wrongdoing, and Vice
Ottawa time: 1:00pm
3224 Richcraft Hall

December 1
Alice MacLachlan
York University
So You [Don’t] Want to Publicly Shame
Ottawa time: 1:00pm
3224 Richcraft Hall

Winter 2023 Colloquium

January 27
Tim Kenyon
Brock University
Two Puzzles �Ӱ�ԭ�� Critical Thinking
Ottawa time: 2:30 P.M.
3201 Richcraft Hall

February 10
Matthew Scarfone
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
Disunified Moral Judgements
Ottawa time: 1:00 P.M.
1200 Richcraft Hall

March 10
Jing Iris Hu
Concordia University
De-Stigmatizing Shame
Ottawa time: 1:00 P.M.
1200 Richcraft Hall

March 24
Marleen Rozemond
University of Toronto
Anne Conway’s Rejection of Dualism
Ottawa time: 1:00 P.M.
1200 Richcraft Hall

March 31
Myrto Mylopoulos
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
Skilled Action Guidance: A Problem for Intellectualism about Skill
Ottawa time: 1:00 P.M.
1200 Richcraft Hall

Fall 2022 Colloquium

October 7
Andrew Brook
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
Transcendental Mind and Intelligible Mind
Ottawa time: 1:05 P.M.
Online (via Zoom): Register below for link

October 21
Bryan Mukandi
University of Queensland
What if they’re doing it wrong?: Ngũgĩ’s Globalectics in philosophy
Ottawa time: 1:05 P.M.
3228 Richcraft Hall

November 11
Iwao Hirose
McGill University
Restricting Freedom During a Pandemic
Ottawa time: 1:05 P.M.
3228 Richcraft Hall

November 18
Amandine Catala
Université du Québec à Montréal
Keynote of the 2022 EPAF Graduate Conference and World Philosophy Day
Ottawa time: 4:00 P.M.
2017 Dunton Tower

December 2
Dalitso Ruwe
Queen’s University
What’s the Price for a Black Man’s Life? : Racial Misandry in the Aftermath of Black Male Death in the Age of Black Lives Matter
Ottawa time: 1:05 P.M.
3228 Richcraft Hall

Winter 2022 Colloquium

January 18
Anna Alexandrova
University of Cambridge
Democratising Measurement: or Why Thick Concepts Call for Coproduction
Ottawa time:  11:00 A.M.

January 28
Annette Dufner
University of Bonn
Ethical Priority Issues during the Pandemic
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

February 11
Juliana Bidadanure
Stanford University
Justice Across Ages: What Does it Mean to Treat Young and Old as Equals?
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

March 4
Anne Eaton
University of Illinois, Chicago
How to do Things With Pictures
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

March 25
Dale Turner
University of Toronto
“Words are Deeds”: Indigenous Spirituality and Visions of Reconciliation
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

Fall 2021 Colloquium

October 1
Cressida Heyes
University of Alberta
Raising the Autonomous Individual: Reading Advice to Parents about Children’s Sleep
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

October 15
Adam Hosein
Northeastern University
Individualist and Structural Approaches to Discrimination
Ottawa time:  2:00 P.M.

November 4
Vanessa Watts
McMaster University
Indigenous Politics and the Academy: Who gets to know?
Ottawa time:  2:30 P.M.

November 19
Jane Friedman
New York University
The Aim of Inquiry?
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

December 10
Anton Ford
The University of Chicago
The Objectification of Agency
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

Winter 2021 Colloquium

January 14
Colin Klein
Australian National University
“Computation is medium-independent, but computational explanation is not”
Ottawa time:  4:00 P.M.

January 29
Hayley Clatterbuck
University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Learning Incommensurate Concepts”
Ottawa time:  3:00 pm

March 5
Myisha Cherry
University of California, Riverside
“Racialized Forgiveness”
Ottawa time:  1:00 pm

March 12
Ian Phillips
Johns Hopkins
“Are we all animals?”
Ottawa time:  1:00 pm

March 26
Carissa Veliz
University of Oxford
“The Importance of Privacy”
Ottawa time:  1:00 pm

Fall 2020 Colloquium

October 2
Jennifer Corns
University of Glasglow
“Suffering as Significantly Disrupted Agency”
Ottawa time: 2:00 P.M.

October 23
Lisa Shapiro
Simon Fraser University
“Canon, Gender, and Historiography”
Ottawa time: 1:00 P.M.

November 13
Regina Rini
York University
“Moral Justification Under Oppression”
Ottawa time: 3:30 P.M.

December 4
Monique Deveaux
University of Guelph
“Grounding normative theorizing in concrete justice-seeking struggles”
Ottawa time:  1:00 P.M.

Winter 2020 Colloquium

January 17
Christopher Byrne
St. Francis Xavier University
“Matter & Teleology in Aristotle’s Natural Philosophy”

January 31
Heidi Maibom
University of Cincinnati
“Why perspective taking?”

February 7
Marguerite Deslauriers
McGill University
As part of the “Women in the History of Ideas” Series, co-hosted with the Department of Political Science
“Arguing for the Superiority of Women in the Seventeenth Century”

March 20
Regina Rini
York University
“Moral Justification Under Oppression”

Fall 2019 Colloquium

September 13
Joshua Shepherd
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
“Skill and Knowledge”

September 27
Grace Helton
Princeton University
“Doxastic Approaches to Perception”

October 11
Jacob Beck
York University
“Perception Is Analog: The Argument from Weber’s Law”

October 31
Ami Harbin
Oakland University
Third Annual PIPR Conference

November 8
Jacob Berger
Lycoming College
“A New Functionalist Theory Of Color“

November 29
Melissa Frankel
�Ӱ�ԭ�� University
“Materialism, immaterialism, and scepticism about the external world”