Department of Philosophy, University of Saskatchewan

Department News

Philosophy in the Community: Viola Woodhouse, "How Informed is Informed Consent in Health Care?" Wednesday, February 10th, 7:00 PM, The Refinery, 609 Dufferin Ave.

2010 Edwards Family Lecture: Chris MacDonald (St. Mary's University, Halifax): "Greenwashing and Corporate Moral Motivation," Friday, February 26th, 3:30 PM, Goodspeed Theatre (Room 18), Edwards School of Business

Philosophy Club: For the winter term, the Philosophy Club meets Thursdays at 4:00 PM, in Arts 607. All undergraduate students in Philosophy courses are invited to participate. For more information contact Philosophy Club President Whitney Lilly <wll874@mail.usask.ca>.

Also, the Club is now on Facebook: The University of Saskatchewan Philosophy Club

Also on Facebook: U of S Philosophy Alumni Group

About the Department

Arts Building, University of Saskatchewan
(Photo: DMT, 2007)

Department Head
Sarah Hoffman	sarah.hoffman@usask.ca
Graduate Chair
Karl Pfeifer	karl.pfeifer@usask.ca
Undergraduate Director
Eric Dayton	eric.dayton@usask.ca

Philosophy has been a presence at the University of Saskatchewan for fully 100 years. Dr. Walter C. Murray, first President of the University, taught the first philosophy course here in 1909. The first Department Head was Ira MacKay and there have since been eleven more. Fr. Basil Markle began teaching scholastic philosophy in the Department in 1926; in 1936 he moved to the Department of Philosophy at the newly founded St. Thomas More College, the Catholic liberal arts college federated with the University. In the 1960s the main Department expanded to nine members under Dr. Leonard Miller (Head from 1961-1978). Recent changes have seen many new faces in the faculty, with four of the eight current members of the Department having been hired since 1999.

The Philosophy Department has a thriving graduate program, in 2008-2009 numbering 17 Masters Students and one interdisciplinary Ph.D. student. Our current students have secured 14 scholarships, including 4 prestigious SSHRCs; in a typical year we have a further 3 to 6 students holding Graduate Teaching Fellowships. The graduate program brings together 13 Philosophy faculty members from our Department and St. Thomas More College, and an additional 5 associate and affiliated members from U of S faculty. The Department is also home to the Anglophone office of the journal Dialogue, with Anglophone editor Dr. Eric Dayton also serving as our Undergraduate Director.