Graduate Students

PhD Program

Lyle Crawford is a PhD student currently writing a dissertation on the perception and metaphysics of time. Notwithstanding his contention that time does not really pass, quite a lot of it seems to have done so since he began. His other research interests include synaesthesia and colour vision, consciousness and personal identity, free will, and the controversy over "neonatal imitation". He is coordinator of the department's project to bring philosophy to some local high schools in the form of visits by graduate students to interested classes and clubs.

Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Akins Email: lcrawfor at sfu.ca

Simon Pollon has received a BA in English and a BA (hons) in Philosophy from The University of Regina, and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo. His MA Thesis was concerned with mental representation and misrepresentation. He is presently ABD, and is working on his dissertation, which is concerned with finding the fundamental elements of Agency. His areas of interest are the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of biology.

Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Akins Email: scp4 at sfu.ca

MA Program

Tiernan Armstrong-Ingram entered the MA program in 2011. He began studying philosophy at Indiana University, took several years off to have a career as an information technology professional, and then finished his undergraduate degree at Portland State University. His primary interest is in history and philosophy of science, especially philosophy of biology, and ethical and social issues that pertain to science and technology. He is also interested in the history of philosophy, especially ancient Greek and analytic philosophy.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Lisa Shapiro Email: tarmstro at sfu.ca

Lindsey bat Joseph's interests are in the areas of ethics and moral philosophy.

Supervisor: Dr. Sam Black Email: ylb at sfu.ca

Berman Chan's research interests are in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion.

Supervisor: tba Email: bermanc at sfu.ca

Zhengzhi (Jane) Chen began her MA in fall 2009. Her research interests include philosophy of mind (especially on colour and visual perception) and philosophy of science (especially on causation and causal explanation).

Supervisor: Dr. Kathleen Akins Email: zca19 at sfu.ca

Wil Contreras entered the MA program in Fall 2011.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Sam Black Email: wcontrer at sfu.ca

Kate Creel entered the MA program in Fall 2011.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Holly Andersen Email: kcreel at sfu.ca

Alanna Dyck is working in the field of global health ethics.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Evan Tiffany Email: amdyck at sfu.ca

Syeda Komal Gilani. Prior to beginning her MA in Philosophy in September 2011, Komal obtained her BA Honours in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Toronto in 2010. Komal's research interests include ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind. Specifically, she is interested in the problem of the criterion and the significance of introspection for epistemology and philosophy of mind, the nature of consciousness, meta-ethical problems such as the nature of value and the why-be-moral problem, and virtue ethics.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Holly Andersen Email: kgilani at sfu.ca

Morgan Harrop began his MA in Philosophy in the summer term of 2011 after receiving his BA from Acadia University. His current research interests lie in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of religion, and epistemology.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Martin Hahn Email: mharrop at sfu.ca

Rob Hever completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario in Philosophy and Psychology. He joined the Philosophy department at SFU in 2010 to do his MA degree. Primarily, he is interested in intentional mental states. To this end, he tends to spend most of his time reading material in the following areas: philosophy - mental representation and intentionality, neuroscience/biology - sensory systems and neuroplasticity, linguistics - language acquisition, and robotics/AI (mostly to keep an eye on new technology, but also to see how biological systems are being duplicated in robotics/AI). His hobbies include backcountry snowboarding, chess, soccer, and tinkering with computers. Research Areas: epistemology and metaphysics, cognitive science/philosophy of mind, logic.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Sam Black Email: rhever at sfu.ca

Shelley Hulbert completed her B.A. (Honours) in philosophy in 2010 at the University of Calgary before joining SFU as a graduate student in September 2010. Her main research interests include: meta-ethics, moral responsibility and 18th/19th century German philosophy (especially Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche). Shelley is currently working on her MA thesis supervised by Dr. Sam Black.

Supervisor: Dr. Sam Black Email: shulbert at sfu.ca

William Lovatt's research interests are in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Lisa Shapiro Email: wtl2 at sfu.ca

Jesús Moreno's research interests are in philosophy of language and epistemology.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Holly Andersen Email: jem10 at sfu.ca

Joshua Ogden will be starting his MA in Philosophy in the Fall of 2012. He is tentatively interested in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of science. He completed an Honours degree in Biology at SFU in 2010.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Sam Black Email: jdo at sfu.ca

Carl Otta is currently working on his thesis in the MA program.

Supervisor: tba Email: cno2 at sfu.ca

Chris Palmer entered the Philosophy MA program in the Fall of 2011. In May of the same year, he completed his BA in the same field at Pacific University. His current areas of interest include philosophy of language (in particular the nature of meaning and the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein), philosophy of mind (in particular the problem of consciousness and the mind-body problem) and philosophy of science.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Lisa Shapiro Email: cpalmer at sfu.ca

Nicole Pernat entered the MA program in Fall 2011.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Martin Hahn Email: tba

Graham Robertson entered the MA program in Fall 2011, after receiving his BA in English at the University of Alberta. His interest lies in value theory, especially the nature and role of ethical language. He dislikes many things but is kind to small animals.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Phil Hanson Email: grahamr at sfu.ca

Kiyan Seyedi is in his second year of the MA program.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Mark McPherran Email: ksa23 at sfu.ca

Chris Spiker entered the MA philosophy program in the fall of 2011, after completing two concurrent Bachelors degrees (philosophy, neuropsychology) at the University of Calgary. His main interest is neurophilosophy (the application of neuroscientific concepts to traditional philosophical questions), but other pursuits include philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, metaethics and philosophy of mind.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Mark McPherran Email: ccs5 at sfu.ca

Brent Stewart entered the MA program in fall 2011.

Supervisor (interim): Dr. Phil Hanson Email: bas2 at sfu.ca

Alim Virani's research interests are in political philosophy.

Supervisor (interim): Dr Martin Hahn Email: alimv at sfu.ca

Vera Yuen presently works on her MA thesis on a comparison between (William) James and Nietzsche pertaining to the history and philosophy of psychology, finding parallels between their ideas on consciousness, thought 'versus' feeling/sensation, instinct, and will. Aside from (or perhaps rather, in conjunction with) that, she likes writing in riddles, promoting the utility of footnotes, practising aeromancy, listening to silence, counting raindrops, and taking photos of shadows and mundane objects.

Supervisor: Dr. Holly Andersen Email: vyuen at sfu.ca