Rob Wilson Philosophy

Philosophy for children has been a strong, driving interest of mine since I was an undergraduate, and philosophical and moral issues connected to disability have emerged in much of the work I have undertaken in the past 10 years. While my philosophical activities in other areas has involved its share of professional involvement (e.g., chairing conference programs, serving on executive committees), my work here has required a deeper level of collaboration, institution-building and community engagement. Workshops, public talks, and grant administration (sigh) subsequently occupied a disproportionate amount of the dividend pie and in my daily life. The core of the work here has been highly collaborative, and would not have been possible without the shared leadership shown by John Simpson and Jason Taylor in the philosophy for children (2008-2015), and by Gregor Wolbring, Erika Dyck, Nicola Fairbrother, and Moyra Lang, and our team of about 80 people—more than half of whom were students—in the Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada project (2010-2015).

Chief topics and themes:

• eugenics / newgenics, bioenhancement
• sorts of people, human variation
• engaged inquiry, dialogical pedagogy

Institutional groundwork and community leadership

• Team Initiator, What Sorts of People Should There Be? www.whatsorts.net, 2006
• Founder and Director, Philosophy for Children Alberta, p4c.ualberta.ca 2008-2015; includes development of Eurekamp p4c.ualberta.ca/eurekamp/ directed by Dr. John Simpson (2009-2013) and Dr. Jason Taylor (2014 – 2016).
• Principal Investigator, Living Archives on Eugenics in Western Canada eugenicsarchive.ca , 2010–2015. Community-University Research Alliance project, leading approximately 80 team members (colleagues, students, community members).

Publications

• in press, “Preface: Eugenics and its Study”, in Frank W. Stahnisch and Erna Kurbegović (eds.), Exploring the Relationship of Eugenics and Psychiatry: Canadian and Trans-Atlantic Perspectives 1905–1972. Athabasca University Press. Completed April 2015, updated December 2018, 2500 words. Link
• in press, “Dehumanization, Disability, and Eugenics”, for the Routledge Handbook of Dehumanization edited by Maria Kronfeldner. Final submitted version, January 2020; 8000 words. Link
• 2018, “Eugenic Thinking”, precis of The Eugenic Mind Project, for multiauthor book review (with discussions by Catherine Kendig and Alan Love), Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology. Link, PDF
• 2018, “Well-Being, Disability, and Choosing Children” Mind (coauthor: Matthew J. Barker), Here
• 2018, The Eugenic Mind Project. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Here is the finalized table of contents and the first chapter.
• 2017, “Contemporary Forms of Eugenics”, for eLS Online John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. Link
• in press, “Preface”, in Frank W. Stahnisch and Erna Kurbegović (eds.), Exploring the Relationship of Eugenics and Psychiatry: Canadian and Trans-Atlantic Perspectives 1905 – 1972. Athabasca University Press. Link
• 2016, “Eugenics and Disability” (with Joshua St. Pierre), in Patrick Devlieger, Beatriz Miranda-Galarza, Steven E. Brown & Megan Strickfaden (eds)Rethinking Disability: World Perspectives in Culture and Society, 2nd edition. Antwerp-Apeldoom: Garant Publishing, pp.93-112. Link
• 2015, “The Role of Oral History in Surviving a Eugenic Past”, in Steven High (ed.), Beyond Testimony and Trauma: Oral History in the Aftermath of Mass Violence. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp.119-138. Link
• 2014, “Eugenics: positive vs negative”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca
• 2014, “Psychology”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Sorts of People”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Science, role of”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Family Studies”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Eugenic Traits”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Eugenics as Wrongful”, entry for Encyc at eugenicsarchive.ca.
• 2014, “Eugenics”, central node for Connections at eugenicsarchive.ca.

Talks, workshops, and presentations since 2010

• “Knowing Agency from the Margins”, Department of Philosophy, Central European University, Budapest, December 9th, 2014, and Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, December 12th, 2014.
• “Eugenics, Newgenics, and Disability”, Department of Philosophy, Central European University, Budapest, December 8th, 2014.
• “Plenary comment”, short response as chair of concluding plenary session, Early Career Scholars Conference in Philosophy of Psychiatry, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, November 21-22, 2014.
• “Eugenics, Disability, Standpoint, Philosophy” (with Joshua St. Pierre and Alan McLuckie), Philosophy Colloquium, University of Alberta as part of Alberta Eugenics Awareness Week 2014, October 23, 2014.
• “The Role of Oral History in Understanding a Eugenic Past”, Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta as part of Alberta Eugenics Awareness Week 2014, October 22, 2014.
• Workshop for Balwin Summer School counselors (with Luke Kersten); 3-hour workshop for 15 camp counselors, Edmonton, Alberta, 4 July, 2014.
• Workshop for Eurekamp Counselors; 3-hour workshop for 20 camp counselors, Edmonton, Alberta, 3 July, 2014.
• “From Participant to Facilitator”, public workshop for Philosophy for Children Alberta, Edmonton, 22 March, 2014.
• “Standpoint Eugenics”, Alberta Eugenics Awareness Week, Edmonton, Alberta, 16 October, 2013; also version given as an invited keynote, Das Netzwerk Philosophie der Lebenswissenschaften (Philosophy of the Life Sciences Network) working meeting, Gut-Siggen, Germany, August 21-24, 2013.
• Discussant, panel on “Reproductive Autonomy: Control of Sexuality”, with Lise Gotell and Lane Mandlis, Pride Week, University of Alberta, Mar 20, 2013.
• “Two Kinds of Folk Experience and the Enthusiasm of Philosophers”, keynote address, Thompson Rivers University Philosophy, History, Politics Conference, Kamloops, British Columbia, January 18-19, 2013.
• Philosopher in Residence, Saint Maria Goretti School, Edmonton, Nov 5-9, 2012. 5 full days of classes with students, plus teacher development sessions.” Introductory Comments”, 40th
• Anniversary of the Repeal of the Sexual Sterilization Act, Commemorative Public Event, City Hall, Edmonton, October 17, 2012
• “Of Enthusiasm, Philosophers, and Folk Experience”, keynote address, Australasian Association of Philosophy annual conference, University of Wollongong, 1st–7th July, 2012.
• “Collaborative Inquiry Out of School: Philosophy Boot Camp, or the Endless Summer?”, keynote address, Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations, biennual meeting, University of Wollongong, 3rd-5th July, 2012.
• “Of Philosophers, Folk, and Enthusiasm”, Annual Public Lecture, Department of Philosophy, University of Alberta, 27 April, 2012;
• “Bio Low Tech: Persons, Marked Human Variation, and the Sub-Human”, conference, Human Gizmos, Penn State University, April 13-15, 2012.
• “Can a River Flow Uphill?”, informal talk to Philosophy for Children Alberta, 16 February, 2012.
• Philosopher in Residence, Aquinas College, November 2011, and Perth Montessori School, December 2012, Perth, Western Australia. 5 days of workshops & presentations working with students, teachers, and parents.
• “Psychiatric Taxonomies: The Case of Personality Disorders”, plenary symposium panel, The Future Relationship of Psychiatry, Psychology and the Neurosciences in the Light of the Past – Reductionism or Complementarity?, first joint meeting of the International Society for the History of Neuroscience and Cheiron, June 16-23, 2011, Calgary & Banff.
• “Witnessing and Complicity: Sexual Crimes and Wrongful Accusation”, invited keynote lecture, Banff Workshop held with the first joint meeting of the International Society for the History of Neuroscience and Cheiron, Calgary and Banff, June 16-23, 2011.
• Philosopher in Residence. Leo Nickerson School, St. Albert, September, 2010. Taught 36 hours of classes (3 hours in each of 12 classrooms), grades 1-6, over 10 days. First philosopher in residence program in the Edmonton area, and taught jointly with Dr. John Simpson.
• Workshop presentations on Pixie to 130 teachers, Edmonton Catholic School Board, Inquiry-based learning project. With John Simpson and Jason Taylor, March 2010.
• Workshop presentations on Pixie, Lisa, Mark, and Harry Stottlemeier’s Discovery to 100 teachers, North Central Teachers Convention of Alberta, Shaw Conference Centre, February 2010.
• Workshop presentation and talk on Philosophy for Children, Edmonton Catholic School Board, Inquiry-based learning project, to 70 teachers (with John Simpson, Howard Nye, and Jason Taylor), Fantasyland Hotel, West Edmonton Mall, February 2010.