UTSC Association of Philosophy Students
Heather Hutchinson →
President
Heather is a second year Philosophy Specialist with an affinity for analytical and continental philosophy (yes, both). She is particularly intrigued by the relation between the two traditions and the ways in which each informs the other. She is currently exploring the role of action in selfhood and the ethics and psychology of autonomous action. Are actions primitive to persons, and if they are, how might this come to influence the things that we judge to be "right" actions?
Heather is also the Executive Editor of UTSC's Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, Noumena. She intends to pursue a PhD in philosophy of mind.
Philosophical Influences
- Plato
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Jacques Derrida
- Benj Hellie
David Balcarras →
Vice President External
David is a third year student at UTSC. He is working on completing a Specialist degree in Philosophy and is also a Senior Editor for UTSC's Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, Noumena.
Courses Completed
Jem Rosario →
Vice President Academics
Jem is a third year student pursuing a double major in New Media Studies and Philosophy. His philosophical interests revolve around the philosophy of mind, continental philosophy, and philosophy of technology. His greatest dream is to develop a media ethics that promotes an Other-centered approach to modern TV, radio, Internet, and journalistic practice.
Philosophical Influences
- Martin Heidegger
- Emmanuel Levinas
- Gabriel Marcel
Ana Djapa →
Vice President Events
Newly elected (AY2012-2013). Ana moderated the first paper of the day at the 2012 UTSC Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. We're thrilled to have (corrupted/converted) her!
Courses Completed
Anna Sullvian →
Vice President Operations
Newly elected (AY2012-2013). Anna Sullivan is a second-year student double-majoring in English and Philosophy. Some of you may recognize her from the B55 Study Sessions Wednesdays at Rex's Den. Welcome aboard, Anna!
Courses Completed
Mike Derewonko →
Vice President Public Relations
Mike is a third year student pursuing a Specialist in Philosophy and a Major in Psychology. He is primarily interested in existentialism (in its broad sense) and philosophy of life and being. He also has an affinity for philosophy of mind, politics, ethics, human nature, some eastern philosophies, and is beginning research into the analytic tradition. He is a skeptical thinker, though certainly not a solipsist.
Favourite Theorists
- Martin Heidegger
- Jean Paul Sartre
- John Stuart Mill
- Alan Watts
What We Do
It's important to us that you know who we are and what we do. The Executive Committee strives to be visible and accessible to the members of APS. If you have business that you would like to discuss with one of us, please use the contact information provided on this page to do so.
- The President is the official spokesperson of the organization and is primarily responsible for the administration of the organization and the direction of its components.
- The Vice President External acts as a liaison between the Association of Philosophy Students and other student clubs, societies, organizations, and groups on and off campus.
- The Vice President Academics acts as an advocate on academic issues for the student body he or she represents and works with the Administration to ensure that students receive an accessible, high-quality education.
- The Vice President Events oversees events organized and approved by the Association of Philosophy Students. These include events organized by the executive committee and events that general members propose.
- The Vice President Operations oversees the organization's finances and is primarily responsible for developing and enhancing the delivery of member services.
- The Vice President Public Relations is responsible for promoting the Association of Philosophy Students on campus. It is the Vice President Public Relation's task to ensure that the Association of Philosophy Students remains visible on campus and accessible to its members; it is his/her responsibility to promote the the services it offers and the events it sponsors accordingly.
How Are We Doing?
The Association of Philosophy Students's primary purpose is to represent and advocate on academic issues for all students enrolled in degree programs in philosophy at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. We're also here to ensure that you get the most out of your philosophical experience at UTSC. If there is something that we could be doing differently, or if you have a suggestion as to how we might improve our events and/or services, please let us know. We enthusiastically welcome any and all feedback.
Faculty Advisors
Benj Hellie
Associate Professor
Benj Hellie graduated from the Chicago Public Schools in 1990, and went on to pursue a BA at Stanford University, completing a degree in philosophy in 1994. He then spent a year in Berlin on a German Academic Exchange Service fellowship before enrolling in the PhD program at Princeton University in 1995. He completed his dissertation on the philosophy of perception under the supervision of Mark Johnston in 2001. Starting in 2000, he was Assistant Professor at Cornell University, and moved here as an Assistant Professor in 2005.
Benj is currently writing a book he calls Conscious Life:
"The idea of the book is that a person's stream of consciousness is the same thing as all the things the person does in their life. For many centuries, philosophy has been captivated by a picture on which consciousness is a sort of inert passive spectator. I think that as a result of this, a lot of issues philosophers are interested in are in a terrible muddle: in many cases, in ways that don't even show up until you start thinking my way."
Course Listing 2011–2012
- "Belief, Truth, and Knowledge" (PHLB20)
- "Puzzles & Paradoxes"(PHLB55)
- "Seminar in the History of Analytic Philosophy"(PHLD43)
- Graduate Seminar: "Rationality, Consciousness, and the Subject's Perspective"(PHL2096S1)(with Andrew Sepielli)
Phil Kremer
Associate Professor, Department Chair
Philip Kremer completed an undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Toronto in 1985. He went to Pittsburgh to do his PhD, took a couple of years off, and then went back to Philosophy to finish his PhD in 1994, writing a dissertation in logic under the supervision of Nuel Belnap. He worked as an Assistant Professor first at Stanford and then at Yale, and as an Associate Professor first at McMaster and now here at University of Toronto Scarborough.
He is currently pursuing two projects: one is on the Liar's Paradox, and other paradoxes involving the notion of truth; the other is a project on the interface between logic and a branch of mathematics called topology.
Course Listing 2011–2012
- "Symbolic Logic II" (PHLC51)