Organized conjointly by the Culture, Mind and Brain program (CMB) of McGill’s Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, the Centre de recherche en éthique’s Philosophy of Mental Health (POMH) research group, McGill’s Laboratory for the Integration of Philosophy in Psychiatry (LIPP), and the Regroupement Psychiatrie et Sciences Humaines (RPSH) of the Université de Montréal’s Department of Psychiatrie.
Past events
Calendar archives
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GRIN Fellows’ Day (2026) @ Salle W-5215, 5e étage Pavillon Thérèse-Casgrain (W), UQAM
All day
It is our pleasure to invite you to the annual GRIN Fellows’ Day (2026), which will take place on September 11th, 2026 at UQAM and on Zoom.
This year, we will have the privilege of welcoming Chris Howard, who will be giving a talk titled “Decentralizing the Digital Public Sphere”. Following this opening conference, there will be five separate talks given by current GRIN fellowship holders.
We encourage our members, both students and faculty, to join us for this event. It will be the perfect occasion to reconvene and to discuss philosophical topics we are all passionate about.
We hope to see many of you there!
*To attend the conference via Zoom, you must enter the passcode: 628130
Program of the day
9h30 – 9h40: Aude Bandini (UdeM), Opening Remarks
9h40 – 10h55: Chris Howard (McGill), Decentralizing the Digital Public Sphere,
Chair : Aude Bandini (UdeM)
10h55 – 11h10: Break
11h10 – 11h50: William Dozois (UdeM), L’environnement épistémique numérique
Comments : Maryna Nekrasova (McGill)
Chair : Karl-Antoine Pelchat (UQAM)11h50 – 12h30: Maryna Nekrasova (McGill), Causation Without Reality: Interventionism and Its Limits in Psychiatry
Comments : Léo Portelance (UdeM)
Chair : Sam Carlsson Tjernström (McGill)12h30 – 14h00: Lunch Break
14h00 – 14h40: Karl-Antoine Pelchat (UQAM), Quel espoir pour la connaissance des objets abstraits ?
Comments : Sam Carlsson Tjernström (McGill)
Chair : Alex Carty (McGill)14h40 – 15h20: Léo Portelance (UdeM), Quelle objectivité pour l’affection post-COVID-19? L’objectivité sociale de Helen Longino et l’élaboration des catégories diagnostiques
Comments : Théo Certain (UdeM)
Chair : Melissa Hernández Parra (UdeM)15h20 – 16h00: Esther Palm (UdeM), Vers une théorie matérialiste du travail animal
Comments : Marguerite Setrakian (UdeM)
Chair : Roxanne Lépine (UdeM)16h00 – 16h10: Closing Remarks
The organizing committee:
Karl-Antoine Pelchat (UQAM)
Melissa Hernández Parra (UdeM)
Sam Carlsson Tjernström (McGill)
Roxanne Lépine (UdeM)
Alex Carty (McGill) -
Economic Philosophy Reading Group @ Room 2880 (space z), 2nd floor at HEC Montréal
11 h 45 – 13 h 00
The Economic Philosophy Reading Group is pleased to invite you to its first meeting of the season on Thursday, September 10, at 11:45 a.m. (Montreal time).
This meeting will take place in Room 2880 (space z), 2nd floor at HEC Montréal, 3000 Côte Ste-Catherine (in the Alphonse-et-Dorimène-Desjardins International Institute of Cooperatives building, at the end of the corridor next to the library).
For this session, we will be discussing Stefano Merlo’s text entitled: Macroeconomic Sovereignty in the European Economic and Monetary Union: A Republican Approach.
To participate via Zoom, click here.
To obtain a copy of the article, please contact the organizers: Morgane Delorme (morgane.delorme1@umontreal.ca) ; Gabriel Monette (gabriel.monette@hec.ca) ; Nicolas Pinsonneault (nicolas.pinsonneault@hec.ca) ; and Philip-Emmanuel Aubry (philip-emmanuel.aubry@mail.mcgill.ca).
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The Groupe interuniversitaire en philosophie politique (GRIPP) invites you to the 2026 Montreal Political Theory Manuscript Workshop, to be held on September 10, 2026, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in McGill University’s Old Chancellor Day Hall, Stephen Allan Scott Seminar Room (Room 16).
During this event, we will examine the manuscript by Professor Stephanie Collins (Monash University) titled “The Systemic Stance: Culpability and Obligation Under Structural Injustice.”
Schedule:- 8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. – Coffee and pastries
- 8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Opening remarks, Victor Muñiz-Fraticelli (McGill) and Ryoa Chung (UdeM)
- 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – Catherine Lu (McGill), Chapter 1: “Theorising Responsibility for Structural Injustice”
- 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Will Roberts (McGill), Chapter 2: “Standard Theories of Reactive Attitudes”
- 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Natalie Stoljar (McGill), Chapter 3: “System-Targeting Reactive Attitudes”
- 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch
- 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Éliot Litalien, Chapter 4: “Moral Obligation from the Systemic Stance”
- 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Victor Muñiz-Fraticelli (McGill), Chapter 5: “Moral Obligations in Public Organizations”
- 3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – Coffee/tea break
- 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. – Dominic Martin (UQÀM), Chapter 6: “Moral Obligations in Private Organizations”
- 4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – Hugo Cossette-Lefebvre, Chapter 7: “Individuals’ Obligations and Social Norms”
- 5:15 p.m. – Closing remarks
Please confirm your attendance using the following form. For more information, please contact Victor Muñiz-Fraticelli at: victor.muniz@mcgill.ca.
The GRIPP is grateful for the support provided by McGill University’s Arts Opportunities Fund and the Research Group on Constitutional Studies (RGCS).
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Animals at Large: Critical Animal Studies Perspectives on Wild, Feral, and Free-Living Animals @ SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, J.W. McConnell Building, Concordia University
5 Aug – 7 Aug All day
Animals at Large: CAS Perspectives on Wild, Feral, and Free-Living Animals is co-organized by the Canadian Society for Critical Animal Studies, the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en éthique (CRÉ) and the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University, the Groupe de recherche en éthique animale et environnementale (GREEA) and the Observatoire québécois en droit animalier (OQDA) based at the Université de Sherbrooke.
This event is co-sponsored by the Groupe de recherche en éthique animale et environnementale (GREEA), the Observatoire québécois en droit animalier (OQDA) based at the Université de Sherbrooke, the Killam Research Fund, the Kule Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Alberta, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Arts and Department of Criminology.
The conference will be hybrid, register here (free and open to all).
Schedule:
Wednesday, August 5th
2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Welcome and Opening Keynote (Cinema de Sève): Stephanie Rutherford (Trent University), “Canids and Canada: Wolves, Coyotes and Regimes of Violence and Belonging”, moderated by Christiane Bailey
4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. –Artist-Activist Plenary (Cinema de Sève): Shannon Johnstone (Meredith College), “Photography, Animals, and Activism: Centering Animals Through an Ethics of Sight”, moderated by Deborah Hardt (University of Wollongong in Dubai)
5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Shannon Johnstone Photography Exhibit and Reception (SHIFT Centre)
Thursday, August 6th
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Continental breakfast (SHIFT Centre)
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Wild Animal Attacks (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Kelly Struthers Montford
- Emelia Quinn (University of Ottawa), “When Animals Attack: The Comedy and Camp of Wild Animal Revenge”
- Susmita Roy (University of Alberta) “Who Produces the ‘Tiger Widow’? Ecology, Patriarchy, and Systemic Marginalization”
- Ian Hanesworth (University of Utah), “Wolf Mothers & Man Things: Agency, Emotionality, and Personhood in Ursula LeGuin’s ‘The Wife’s Story’”
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Coffee/tea break
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Feral Intimacies: Care and Control in Interspecies Relations (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Emelia Quinn
- Misha Solomon (Concordia University), “Goon at Love Park”
- Ishaan Selby (Concordia University), “‘Big, Furry, Asymmetrical Balls’: Wildness, Feral Sex, and Ownership in Marian Engel’s Bear”
- Jesse Arsenault (Concordia University), “The Wildness of Interspecies Desire in South African Literature and Law”
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Lunch (SHIFT Centre)
1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Wild Politics (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Chloë Taylor
- Pablo Castello (University of Denver), “The Territorial Rights of Wild Animals: Justification”
- Esther Palm (Université de Montréal), “Travail Animal et critique du sauvage en théorie politique”
- Christiane Bailey (Concordia University), “Renouncing violence and doing politics with wild and liminal animals in Donaldson and Kymlicka’s Animals and the Right to Politics”
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Coffee/tea break (SHIFT Centre)
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Vermin, Pests and Invasive Species (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Kelly Struthers Montford
- Emily Major (University of Canterbury), “The Boogeymen of Our Forests: Anti-Possum Rhetoric and the Construction of Fear in Dominant Conservation Messaging in New Zealand”
- Zoei Sutton (Flinders University) and Kate Hall, “Feral Catastrophe: Analyzing the Narrative Construction of Australian Cats”
- Lauren Corman (Brock University), “Criminal/Animal: Trump’s Criminalization of Immigrants and Vilification of Nonhuman Animals”
Friday, August 7th
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Continental breakfast (SHIFT Centre)
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Keynote (Cinéma de Sève): Catia Faria (Complutense University of Madrid), “Compassion by Design: Aligning AI with the Welfare of Wild Animals”, moderated by Chloë Taylor
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Coffee/tea break (SHIFT Centre)
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Media Analyses (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Parth Pant
- Mathieu Chaput (Université TÉLUQ) and Jacinthe Dupuis (Université de Montréal), “The Communicative Constitution of Liminal Animals in the ‘Deer Saga’”
- Briana Magnuson (Western University) and Tony Weis (Western University), “HPAI in the Wild: A Critical Analysis of Media Coverage of the Panzootic Crisis”
- Branislava Vičar (University of Maribor), “The Conservation Discourse of Native Animal Species as Nationalist Narrative: The Case of the Marble Trout”
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch (SHIFT Centre)
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Wild Horses (Cinéma de Sève), moderated by Tayler Zavitz
- Sabine Sassner (University of Texas at Dallas), “Movement vs. Behaviour: Visibility and Agency of Equines”
- Lucy Horswill (Falmouth University), “From ‘Semi-Wild’ to Surplus: Language and Disposal at British Drift Sales”
- Kelly Struthers Montford (Toronto Metropolitan University) and Chloë Taylor (University of Alberta), “Wild Mustang Prison Programs in the American Southwest”
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Extended coffee/tea break (SHIFT Centre)
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – The Future of Wildness (Cinema de Sève), moderated by Kelly Struthers Montford
- Stephanie Eccles (Toronto Metropolitan University), “Farmed Animals in Extreme Weather Events: Disaster Response Pathways and Foreclosures of Wildness”
- Sal Renshaw (Nipissing University) “Saving By Any Other Name: Sanctuaries, Arks, and the Governance of Animal Lives in the Anthropocene”
- Agata Kowaleska (Jagiellonian University), “Feralizing: Reimagining Future Liberations in Europe”
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“A Law-Led Transition to Animal-Free Research” @ SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation
17 h 00 – 19 h 00
Lecture by Maneesha Dekha (Postcolonial animal law scholar, author of Animals as Legal Beings and Professor at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia)
On Monday, July 20, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Maneesha Dekha (University of Victoria) will give a lecture titled “From Resource Object to Legal Subject: A Law-Led Transition to Animal-Free Research.” The lecture will take place at the SHIFT Center for Social Transformation, in the J.W. McConnell Building at Concordia University, located at 1400 De Maisonneuve Boulevard in Montreal.
In this talk, Maneesha Deckha will address the rising scientific and political momentum to finally replace the use of animals in laboratories with animal-free methods and underscore the importance of law to ensure a relatively swift rather than indefinite transition.
Registration is free. To join in person or online, click here. For more information, please consult the following page.
About the speaker
Maneesha Deckha is Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria in British Columbia where she directs the Animals & Society Research Initiative. Her research expertise includes critical animal law, vegan ecofeminist theory, and postcolonial theory. She is the author of Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders and director of the open access documentary series, A Deeper Kindness: Youth Activism in Animal Law and on YouTube: @ASRI-UVic.
Co-organized by Concordia University’s Social Justice Centre (SJC), the CRÉ, the Groupe de recherche en éthique animale et environnementale (GRÉEA), the Observatoire québécois en droit animalier (OQDA), the Canadian Society for Critical Animal Studies (CSCAS) and the SPCA of Montréal.
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Reading Group on the Book “Animals and the Right to Politics” (OUP, 2025) @ Online.
12 h 30 – 14 h 30
The CRÉ will co-organise an interdisciplinary reading group on the book Animals and the Right to Politics (OUP, 2025) by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka. The group will meet for three sessions, each covering a part of the book. The next session will take place on June 18, 2026, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., online. This session will focus on giving an exposition of the context of the book and will address topics such as challenges and political exclusion, political wardship, resistance, and cosmopolitan temptation.
To register and participate via Zoom, click here. For more information, click here.
Co-organized by the Social Justice Centre at Concordia, the CRÉ, the GRÉEA, the Observatoire québécois en droit animalier (OQDA), the Canadian Society for Critical Animal Studies (CCAS) and Animals in in philosophy, politics, law, and ethics research group (APPLE).
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32nd Annual Summer Program in Social and Cultural Psychiatry @ Room 627, Education Building, McGill University
10 Jun – 12 Jun All day
This workshop brings together researchers and practitioners in medicine, humanities, cognitive neuroscience, and philosophy to discuss innovative ways of integrating these disciplines in psychiatric research. The program is grounded in work conducted by members of the research and clinical communities of Montreal and the broader regions of Quebec.
Theme
This year’s workshop is on emerging practices in contemporary mental health research. This theme is deliberately broad, yet connects the issues discussed in this workshop through one major topic: The need for a multidisciplinary approach recentering psychiatry on the person. The workshop will take place over three days, each day engaging different issues surrounding the notion of person-centredness in psychiatry. A first theme focuses on issues relating to the integration of data about the person and their social situation — the so-called “social determinants of health” — in contemporary biological psychiatry. A second theme is on the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration between philosophers and clinicians, and how such a collaboration can be conducive to improve patient-centredness in psychiatry. A third theme focuses on person centredness, emerging practices and disputed norms in mental health.
To register, click here. For more information, check out the following page.
Faculty: Sarah Arnaud (CÉGEP Édouard-Montpetit), Mona Gupta (CHUM), Amandine Catala (UQÀM), Anne-Marie Gagné-Julien (ULaval), Axel Constant (U. of Sussex), Feodor Poukhovski-Sheremetyev, Zoey Lavallee (McGill, CRÉ), Laurence Kirmayer, Ana Gómez-Carrillo, Vincent Paquin, David Benrimoh, Ian Gold (McGill), Noémie La Haye-Caty, Lena Palaniyappan, Phoebe Friesen (McGill) and Tihare Zamorano.
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Third Session – CRÉ Graduate Fellows’ Seminar @ Room 309, CRÉ, hybrid
13 h 30 – 15 h 00
You are invited to the third session of the 2025–2026 edition of the CRÉ Graduate Fellows’ Seminar.
On this occasion, France Lacharité and Nohémi Bokuma will present their research projects. Each presentation will last approximately 20 minutes and will be immediately followed by a discussion of about 25 minutes.
The aim of the Seminar is to provide our graduate fellows with constructive feedback and critical input to help them strengthen their research projects. It also offers them an opportunity to practise delivering a presentation in a format comparable to that of academic conferences. We very much hope that many of you will take part in this activity, which we intend to be particularly valuable as a learning experience.
Program:
1) 1:30–2:15 p.m. — Presentation by France Lacharité, PhD candidate in Contemporary Religious Studies at the Université de Sherbrooke, supervised by Bertrand Lavoie, Marc Dumas, and Louise La Fontaine
Coping with Finitude: Limits, Vulnerabilities, and Meaning in Pediatric End-of-Life Care
In December 2015, Québec’s Act Respecting End-of-Life Care came into force, recognizing medical assistance in dying (MAID) as a form of end-of-life care for certain individuals aged 18 and over. After more than ten years of implementation, growing social acceptance and a reduction in resistance within the medical community have prompted discussions about extending MAID to other groups, including certain minors. More broadly, the question of MAID raises a number of issues, notably concerning our relationship to life and death.
Confronting death is difficult in itself, but it becomes even more complex when it concerns a child. In this context, the death of a child leads healthcare professionals to experience intense emotions and to face various limits (legal, professional, moral, or ethical). They are thus confronted with their own vulnerability, which can give rise to ethical, moral, and existential questions.
This presentation aims to share preliminary findings from a qualitative study conducted in a Québec pediatric hospital, based on shadowing observations of five healthcare professionals and approximately fifty semi-structured interviews with different types of caregivers.
Initial analyses highlight interactions with families and the challenges that arise when questions of time, hope, and meaning emerge as the end of life approaches. They also bring to light certain needs of healthcare professionals when providing pediatric end-of-life care.
2) 2:15–3:00 p.m. — Presentation by Nohémi Bokuma, MA student in Political Science at Concordia University, supervised by Dr. Stephanie Paterson and Dr. Jonathan Martineau.
Examining and identifying the gaps in Canadian policies and how they respond to digital gender-based violence
Digital gender-based violence in Canada is increasing and even materializes beyond the internet and into our real world. Alek Minassian was found guilty of the “2018 Toronto van attack, […] the deadliest incident linked to the incel movement” (Beckett 2021), a sub-culture of men who believe “that women use their sexual power to dominate [them] socially” (Basu 2020). Thus, through an analysis of this emerging dimension of misogynistic digital violence, this master’s thesis will examine how Canadian policies interact with digital gender-based violence, with the sexist radicalization of young men online, and will also critique the technologies that facilitate this precise and gendered violence. The central question arises from the following observation: the feelings shared amongst internet users, namely the sense of belonging to a community, freedom and anonymity, in addition to the “differences between web hosts” (Ganesh 2018, 38) and the lack of unified regulations, all lead to the undermining of women’s cybersecurity. As a result, as groups such as those from the manosphere are allowed to migrate from one platform to another, further escaping the threat of their online community being shut down and maximizing their promotion of a misogynistic digital culture, women’s digital security is weakened and is made even more vulnerable.
Through this analysis, the following questions emerge: the ethics behind the current practices (and the policies that govern them) of platforms such as Reddit, 4Chan, Meta and X (Twitter), the governance and ethics advanced technologies and artificial intelligence within these platforms, and finally, the question of the power acquired and the profit generated by these companies at the expense of women.
Chair: Ryoa Chung (UdeM).
To participate via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; Passcode: 9Me2EW).
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Workshop on the Philosophy of Mental Health @ Université du Québec à Montréal
9 h 30 – 17 h 00
You are cordially invited to a workshop on the philosophy of mental health, scheduled for May 28, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event will take place in room W-5305 of the Thérèse-Casgrain Building at the Université du Québec à Montréal, located at 455 René-Lévesque Boulevard East in Montreal.
Schedule:
Morning session, chaired by Anne-Marie Gagné-Julien (Université Laval)
- 9:30 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.: Opening remarks
- 9:40 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Sandrine Renaud (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières), “Injustices Experienced by Adults Diagnosed with Psychotic Disorders in Mental Health Care: A Scoping Review”
- 10:25 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Break
- 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.: Axel Constant (University of Sussex), “The participatory stance: A veritistic social epistemology for patient knowledge”
- 11:15 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.: Break
- 11:20 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.: Shannon Mahony and Owen Chevalier, “Beyond listening: epistemic conflict in anorexia nervosa and the participatory solution”
- 12:05 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Lunch
Afternoon session (I), chaired by Luc Faucher (Université du Québec à Montréal)
- 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Ian Gold (McGill University), “Devices and Delusions: James Tilly Matthews and the Air Loom”
- 2:15 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.: Break
- 2:20 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.: Alexandre Poisson (Université du Québec à Montréal), “Autistic Expertise Matters: from Participatory Autism in Research to a Participatory Philosophy of Autism”
- 3:05 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.: Break
Afternoon session (II), chaired by Ian Gold (McGill University)
- 3:20 p.m. – 4:05 p.m.: Matthew Valiquette (McGill University), “Towards a Culture of Quantification: Machine-Learning in Mental Health”
- 4:05 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.: Break
- 4:10 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Florence Legault, “Epistemic injustices in healthcare: rethinking the agency of individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder through an enactive and ecological view of cognition”
- 4:55 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Closing remarks
The registration deadline is Sunday, May 24, 2026. To register, please scan the QR code below.
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10th Montreal Social Justice Theory Workshop @ Concordia University
28 May – 29 May All day
Annual Intensive Research Workshop
The aim of the Social Justice Theory Workshop is to enable sustained exploration in the theory of social justice. It addresses topics such as the articulation of ideals and principles of economic, political, gender, race, environmental, and cultural justice; the critique of inequality, domination, exploitation, and alienation; and the illumination of political institutions, practices and processes of transformation that might foster progressive change.
Workshop papers will be pre-circulated, and participation implies a commitment to reading the papers in advance.
This workshop is organized by Pablo Gilabert and Peter Dietsch, in association with the Social Justice Centre (Université Concordia), the Centre de recherche en éthique (Université de Montréal) and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Victoria.
The 10th edition of this intensive research workshop will take place on May 28 and 29, 2026, in room MB 14.250 at Concordia University’s John Molson Pavilion, located at 1450 Guy Street in Montreal, Quebec.
The workshop will be in person. Places are limited and registration is required. If you would like to participate, please contact Christiane Bailey at the following address before May 1st : sjc@concordia.ca.
Programm :
Thursday, May 28 2026 (day 1)
- 9:00 – 9:15 am: Coffee and snacks
- 9:15 – 10:30 am: Cristina Lafont (Northwestern University), “Inequality and the Human Rights Project,” commentary by Dominique Leydet (Université du Québec à Montréal)
- 10:30 – 10:45 am: Break
- 10:45 am – 12:00 pm: Gina Schouten (Harvard University), “On Educational Opportunity,” commentary by Andrée-Anne Cormier (École Nationale d’Administration Publique)
- 12:00 – 1:30 pm: Lunch
- 1:30 – 2:45 pm: Vid Simoniti (University of Liverpool), “Democratic Control of Cultural Change Through Images,” commentary by Ryoa Chung (University of Montréal)
- 2:45 – 3:00 pm: Break
- 3:00 – 4:15 pm: Pablo Gilabert (Concordia University), “Why We Should Support Working Artists,” commentary by Louis-Philippe Hodgson (York University)
- 6:30 pm: Diner (speakers and commentators)
Friday, May 29 2026 (day 2)
- 9:30 – 9:45 am: Welcome
- 9:45 – 11:00 am: Sanjay Reddy (New School for Social Research), “Intergenerational concern in a new key,” commentary by Colin Macleod (University of Victoria)
- 11:00 – 11:15 am: Break
- 11:15 – 12:30 am: Peter Dietsch (University of Victoria) et Thomas Rixen, “How to Catalyse the Green Transition: Insulation, Expansion, and the Politics of Distribution,” commentary by Matthias Fritsch (Concordia University)
- 12:30 – 3:00 pm: Dinner
- 3:00 pm: Goodbye
For more information, please consult the following link.
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David J. Holroyd (University of Sheffield) @ Room 309, CRE, hybrid
12 h 00 – 13 h 30
The CRÉ, the Social Justice Centre (SJC) and the Research Group on Environmental and Animal Ethics (GRÉEA) are pleased to welcome David J. Holroyd (University of Sheffield), who will give a talk entitled Navigating the Leviathan: A Skeptical Ethos for Animal Politics.
Abstract
Within contemporary Animal Politics, the state is frequently positioned as the primary vehicle for justice, with animals framed as the ‘next frontier’ for integration via legal rights and representation. However, this extensionist approach frequently overlooks the state’s historic role in facilitating the systemic exclusion and political subordination of nonhuman animals. Given this reality, how should animalist scholars orient themselves toward the state?
This presentation proposes a skeptical ethos toward the state, moving beyond the binary of statist optimism and anarchist dismissal. The talk addresses three core features of this orientation:
1) Recognising historical realities: State-building projects have historically caused many animal injustices, undermining the state’s presumed emancipatory potential.
2) Engaging with imperfect institutions: Political complexities must be navigated case-by-case, since an outright rejection of statist approaches may expose animals to more severe injustices.
3) Expanding political imaginations: To envisage radical forms of politics beyond the anthropocentric status quo, one must step outside an exclusively statist framework for ‘doing politics’.
By cultivating a skeptical ethos, scholars (and activists) can move beyond entrenched dogmas to discover more reliable, nuanced, and effective modes of political engagement with the Leviathan.
To obtain a copy of the paper to read in advance of the presentation, please write to valery.giroux@umontreal.ca.
Biography:
David John Holroyd is a PhD candidate in political theory at the University of Sheffield, funded by the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities. His research broadly addresses the themes of animal justice, state power, social identity, and the role of academic ideas in public debate.
Chair:
Juliette Roussin (Université Laval).
To participate on Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; Secret code: 9Me2EW).
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New Research in Political Philosophy @ McGill University, LEA 429 (Tuesday), LEA 937 (Wednesday)
26 May – 27 May All day
The CRÉ invites you to a workshop in political philosophy, organized by Sari Kisilevsky (Queens College, CUNY), with the help of Patrick Turmel (Université Laval).
Program :
Tuesday, May 26 2026, room LEA 429
- 9:30-10:00 am: Welcoming remarks and coffee
- 10:00-11:00 am: Doug MacKay (UNC Chapel Hill)
- 11:15 am-12:15 pm: Morgane Delorme (Université de Montréal)
- 12:15-1:45 pm: Lunch
- 1:45-2:45 pm: Louis-Philippe Hodgson (York University)
- 5:15-4:15 pm: Kristin Voigt (McGill University)
- 4:30-5:30 pm: Juliette Roussin (Université Laval)
Wednesday, May 27 2026, room LEA 927
- 9:30-10:00 am: Coffee
- 10:00-11:00 am: Sandra Raponi (Merrimack College)
- 11:15 am-12:15 pm: Stephanie Kapusta (Dalhousie University)
- 12:15-1:45 pm: Lunch
- 1:45-2:45 pm: Hugo Cosette-Lefebvre (McGill University)
- 3:15-4:15 pm: Vida Panitch (Carleton University)
- 4:15-4:30 pm: Closing remarks, Sari Kisilevsky (CUNY, Queens College)
Register here!
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Lecture by Lisa Herzog (University of Groningen) @ University of Montreal
12 h 00 – 13 h 30
You are cordially invited to the third lecture in the Lecture Series on Invisible Work, organized by the Aesop Chair in collaboration with the Centre de recherche en éthique. For this third lecture, we are pleased to welcome Lisa Herzog (University of Groningen) for a presentation titled “Against Careers.”
Abstract: This paper argues against work being organized in “careers,” with individuals being expected, over the years, to climb up a ladder of increasing income, power, and status in one specific area of paid work. This organization of work creates an “ideal biography norm” that disadvantages many groups who cannot fulfil it, e.g. active parents and other groups doing “invisible” work. After defining what I mean by “careers” and what kind of critique I raise against the concept, I briefly set out the historical background of how today’s understanding of careers developed. This shows that many arguments that spoke in favor of careers in the past no longer hold. Today, work being organized as careers threatens at least two sets of values: equality of opportunity, understood across people’s whole life, and value pluralism. As an alternative, and to rescue what still stands from the historical arguments in favor of careers, I suggest a model of “merit without careers,” in which certain functional requirements for jobs remain in place, while giving up the assumption of linearity, leaving behind the “ideal biography norm” as the “normal” case. This would better align the organization of work with the values of equality of opportunity and value pluralism.
The event will take place on May 19th, 2026, at noon in room 422 of the Department of Philosophy at the Université de Montréal (2910 Boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, Montreal, QC) in hybrid format.
Please register via the following link. To participate via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; passcode: 9Me2EW).
The Lecture Series on Invisible Work is an initiative by Denise Celentano (University of Montreal), holder of the Aesop Chair, in collaboration with the Centre de recherche en éthique. For more information, please contact Denise Celentano (UdeM) denise.celentano@umontreal.ca or Dominic Martin (UQAM) martin.dominic@uqam.ca.
General information about the Lecture Series: The concept of invisible work describes the forms of work that fall outside the traditional model of waged employment and are not recognized, in a monetary and/or symbolic sense, to the point that even their nature as “work” is often disputed. Invisible work takes place behind the scenes of more recognized and valued work. Given its liminal nature with respect to long-established categories, it serves as a prism for exploring a number of issues, from recognition to social segregation to the critical questioning of the normative assumptions behind what is supposed to count as “work.” The notion of invisible work promises to shed light, as it were, on the mechanisms of valorization that operate behind social cooperation. This series of lectures, open to the public, explores the subject from both a philosophical and interdisciplinary perspective.
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Roundtable Discussion on Ernest-Marie Mbonda’s Book @ Centre de recherche en éthique
14 h 00 – 15 h 30
On Monday, May 18, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., join us for a roundtable discussion on Ernest-Marie Mbonda’s book, Pouvoir, droits et justice en Afrique. Essais de philosophie politique appliquée (2024, L’Harmattan), as part of the partnership between the Centre de recherche en éthique and EthicsLab (Université catholique de l’Afrique centrale). The roundtable will be held in the presence of the author, Ernest-Marie Mbonda (Université catholique d’Afrique centrale), as well as commentators Ryoa Chung (Université de Montréal), Anatole Fogou (Universités, HDR de l’Université de Lille III, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Maroua au Cameroun), Christian Nadeau (Université de Montréal), and Thierry Ngosso (Université catholique d’Afrique centrale).
The event will be held in hybrid format in room 307 of the Centre de recherche en éthique, located at 2910 Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec. To join via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; Passcode: 9Me2EW).
We look forward to seeing you there!
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De choses à êtres sentients : 10 ans après la réforme du droit animalier @ Cinema DeSève followed by a reception in the lobby J.W. McConnell Building (library) at Concordia University
15 May 9 h 00 – 16 May 19 h 00
This first conference of the Observatoire québécois en droit animalier, organized in collaboration with Concordia University’s Social Justice Centre and the Centre de recherche en éthique (CRÉ), with the support of the Université de Sherbrooke and the Chambre des notaires du Québec, invites reflection on the ten-year period following the 2015 reform of animal law, which, from a legal standpoint, shifted the status of animals from things to sentient beings.
To register for the event, please click here.
May 15, 2026 – Intensive Research Workshop (by invitation)
This research workshop on animals provides a space for reflection and discussion centered on works in progress. It is open to research concerning animals across a range of disciplines, including law, philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, cultural studies, literature, and related fields.
This intensive workshop is conceived as a privileged opportunity for researchers to engage in in-depth exchanges with one another about a work in progress or a publication project, in a more intimate setting than that of the main conference, while also fostering lasting connections within the research community concerned with animals. It enables participants to discuss their research projects in small groups and to receive constructive critical feedback in preparation for conference presentations, publications, or job talks. The aim is to help researchers refine, enrich, and deepen their ideas.
Format
The workshop day will be devoted to the discussion of four papers. Each paper will be discussed in a session structured as follows: a researcher will first briefly present their work in progress. The paper will have been circulated to participants in advance, allowing for careful prior reading. A designated respondent will then offer comments on the paper. Workshop participants will subsequently engage in constructive discussion, questions, and critique of the work.
May 16, 2026 – Conference opened to the public
8:30 am – 9:00 am Registration and welcome 9:00 am – 9:15 am Opening remarks 9:15 am – 10:15 am Comparative perspectives: Reforming animal law in France and Québec
- Sophie Gaillard (SPCA)
- Romy Sutra (Université Toulouse Capitole)
10:15 am – 12:15 pm Reforming the foundations of law
- Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert (Université Queen’s)
- Michaël Lessard (Université de Sherbrooke)
- Hania Kassoul (Université Côte d’Azur)
- Alexandra Popovici (Université de Sherbrooke)
12:15 – 1:30 pm Lunch 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Reforming legal practice
- Marie-Claude St-Amant (Melançon Marceau Grenier Cohen)
- Chloé Surprenant (BFGJ & Morasses Avocats)
- Nicolas Morello (Communauté Droit animalier Québec – DAQ)
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Break 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm Those left behind by Québec animal law
- Stéphanie Roy (Université de Sherbrooke)
- Gabrielle Perras St-Jean (INRS)
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Reception with vegan hors d’oeuvres *Please note that the workshop will be conducted in French.
For any inquiries: info@oqda.org
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Economic Philosophy Reading Group @ Room Édouard-Montpetit, 3rd floor, HEC
14 h 30 – 16 h 00
Please note that the event will now take place in the Édouard-Montpetit Room (HEC), on the 3rd floor of the Côte-Sainte-Catherine Building (near the elevators).
You are cordially invited to the final meeting of the season for the Economic Philosophy Reading Group, which will be held in hybrid format (Zoom) on Thursday, May 14, 2026, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Montreal time). The meeting will take place in room Édouard-Montpetit (HEC), on the 3rd floor of the Côte-Sainte-Catherine Building.
This session will focus on a text by Nicolás Aguila, Paula Haufe and Joscha Wullweber entitled “The ecor as global special purpose money: towards a green international monetary system to finance sustainable and just transformation”. To participate via Zoom, click here.
To receive the text, please write to the organizers: Morgane Delorme (morgane.delorme1@umontreal.ca); Gabriel Monette (gabriel.monette@hec.ca); and Nicolas Pinsonneault (nicolas.pinsonneault@hec.ca).
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“La problématique des éthiques endogènes : vers un universalisme pluraliste” @ Room 309, CRÉ, hybrid mode
13 h 00 – 14 h 30
The CRÉ is pleased to welcome Anatole Fogou (Universities of Maroua and Buea, Cameroon), who is undertaking a research stay at the Centre as part of a partnership between the Centre de recherche en éthique (CRÉ) and the Laboratory for Ethics and Public Policy (EthicsLab) at the Catholic University of Central Africa (Yaoundé, Cameroon).
Anatole Fogou will present a talk entitled “The Problematic of Endogenous Ethics: Toward a Pluralistic Universalism,” followed by a commentary delivered via videoconference by Thierry Ngosso (University of Hamburg & Chair of Business Ethics, Technical University of Munich; Founding Director, EthicsLab).
Chair: Ryoa Chung (Université de Montréal)
Abstract
Contemporary moral thought is marked by a crisis of normative foundations and by the persistence of deep disagreements regarding the criteria for the justification of action. At the same time, globalization has fostered the emergence of norms with universal aspirations, often formulated within particular cultural frameworks. This paper examines the legitimacy of such universalist claims in a context of moral pluralism. It argues that a reflective engagement with endogenous ethics provides a promising avenue for rethinking the conditions of a non-hegemonic universalism. Far from leading to relativism, this approach opens the possibility of a pluralistic universalism grounded in intercultural dialogue and in the recognition of context.
Keywords: endogenous ethics, moral pluralism, contextualism, universalism, bioethics.
To join via Zoom, please click here (Meeting ID: 871 9735 6788; Passcode: 9Me2EW)
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2025-2026 Annual Transatlantic Workshop in Practical Philosophy @ Online.
12 May – 13 May All day
You are cordially invited to the next Annual Transatlantic Workshop in Practical Philosophy, scheduled for May 12–13, 2026.
To join via zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 841 3736 0747; Secret Code: 9Me2EW).
The conference, which will be held online, will be divided into two half-days:
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
- 9:00 a.m. — 9:05 a.m.: Opening remarks
First panel, chaired by Ryoa Chung (CRÉ, University of Montreal)
- 9:05 a.m. — 9:50 a.m.: Meredith Sheeks (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), “Artificial Intelligence and Epistemic Expertise”
- 9:50 a.m. — 10:35 a.m.: Cécile Rosat (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), “The Feeling of Relational Responsibility and Narratives”
Second panel, chaired by Sarah Stroud (Parr Centre, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- 10:50 a.m. — 11:35 a.m.: Maëva Herriau (Catholic University of Louvain), “Basic Equality Between Adults and Children”
- 11:35 a.m. — 12:20 p.m.: Cléo Salion-Girault (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), “Can the Practice of Medicalized Assistance in Dying be Conceptualized as ‘Care’?”
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Third panel, chaired by Magali Bessone (NoSoPHi, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
- 9:05 a.m. — 9:50 a.m.: Morgane Delorme (University of Montreal), “From Financial Literacy to Financial Justice”
- 9:50 p.m. — 10:35 a.m.: Caterina Donelli (Catholic University of Louvain), “Limiting Wealth to Address the Climate Crisis: A Green Case for Limitarianism”
Fourth panel, chaired by Samuel Dishaw (Hoover Chair, Catholic University of Louvain)
- 10:50 a.m. — 11:35 a.m.: Tommy Johnson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), “Owning and Giving: Virtue Ethics and the Moral Tragedy of Climate Displacement”
- 11:35 a.m. — 12:20 p.m.: Will Gildea (McGill University), “Casal on Interspecies Justice without Over-demandingness”
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Political Philosophy for a Better World @ Université Laval
6 May – 8 May All day
Bilingual conference jointly organized by the Department of Political Science at Université Laval, the Chair in Democracy and Public Ethics (Université Laval), and the Centre for Research in Ethics (CRÉ).
We are pleased to welcome Jonathan Wolff (Oxford) and Daniel Weinstock (McGill) as our two keynote speakers.
Summary
The conference aims to explore how political philosophy can be mobilized to address the major challenges we face as a society – such as the climate crisis, the rise of populism, the erosion of democratic norms, and radicalization. In this context of polycrisis, there is a need to create a space for reflection dedicated to addressing these pressing problems. Hence the appeal to political philosophy, which is by nature a normative discipline: its objective is to provide us with norms and guidelines to help us move towards a more just society. However, it is not enough to have good ideas and policies; we need ideas and policies that will be supported by the population. It is therefore worth noting that there is a link between distributive justice and social acceptability, in that there is empirical evidence supporting the idea that fair distributions enjoy greater popular support. Thus, this discipline stands to gain significantly by directly addressing the major challenges we face today and by doing so in a way that brings knowledge out of the confines of academia.
This conference will therefore bring together renowned researchers to reflect on and formulate recommendations to help address these major challenges, including climate change, the rise of populism, disinformation, and the erosion of democratic norms. The presentations will therefore not be solely intended for the academic community, but rather for society at large. Presenters are encouraged to formulate clear recommendations, regardless of the stage of development of the problem they are considering. Researchers are invited (but not required) to shed light on concrete public decisions that have been or will be made, using specific examples (public policies, bills, evidence-based data), thereby demonstrating both how political philosophy is essential for understanding these issues and how it helps us move towards solutions that can garner broad public support.
Schedule:
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm·: Welcome table
- 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Student Panel 1, chaired by Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh (ULaval).
- Molly Dea Stephenson (McGill), Ecotage and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: On Defensive Justification of Putatively Hopeless Climate Activism;
- Ester Palm (UdeM), Repenser la justice à partir du ‘travail animal’ et du ‘prolétariat du sentient’;
- Sasha Emanuel Mossu (ULavaL), Différentes crises, différentes philanthropies : quelle durée de vie pour les fondations ?.
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Coffee Break Coffee and snacks will be served
- 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Student Panel 2, chaired by Sylvie Loriaux (ULaval).
- David Oh (McGill), Reconsidering (Dis)trust: Reluctant Reliance and Normative Expectations;
- Mélanie Guillemette (ULaval), Ce que les injustices épistémiques et l’ignorance active font à la démocratie;
- Alexandre Petitclerc (UdeM), Le court-métrage documentaire et la philosophie politique: au delà de la mobilisation des connaissances.
6:50 pm – 7:30 pm: A pleasant walk in the Parc and the Citadel with stunning views of the city, and the Parliament.
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm: Dinner in lively St-Jean Baptiste neighbourhood at Le Hobbit.
Thursday, May 7, 2026
9:45 am – 10:15 am: Welcome and Coffee
- 10:15 am – 10:30 am: Opening remarks.
- Conference organizer Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh will set the tone with a brief overview of the conference’s themes and a warm welcome to all participants.
- 10:30 am – 12h00 pm: Panel 1, Structural Change and the Aesthetics of Equality, présidée par François Blais (ULaval).
- Mauro Rossi (UQAM) – An Account of Structural Change – CANCELED;
- Christian Nadeau (UdeM) – Mouvements sociaux et fragilisation de l’État de droit.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Atrium Lunch
- 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Panel 2, Taxation, Capital and the Moral Limits of Markets, chaired by Jérôme Gosselin-Tapp (ULaval).
- Patrick Turmel (ULaval) – Dépasser la taxe Zucman: impôt sur le capital et démocratie;
- Vida Panitch (Carleton) – The Moral Limits of Markets and Non ideal Justice.
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Coffee Break
- 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Panel 3, Pipelines, Resistance, Climate Action and Populism, chaired by Naïma Hamrouni (UQTR).
- Amy Janzwood (McGill) – Build Baby Build? Lessons from Mega Pipelines and Mega Resistance;
- Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh (ULaval) – Climate Action in the Age of Populism.
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Coffee Break
- 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Keynote Session, chaired by Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh (ULaval).
- Jonathan Wolff (Oxford) – Posterity and the ‘Me’ Generation.
6:15 pm – 9:00 pm: Reception Drinks and a food buffet will be offered
Friday, May 8, 2026
9:30 am – 10:00 am: Welcome and coffee
- 10:00 AM – 12:00 pm: Panel 4, Social Movements and Ghost Work, chaired by Sylvie Loriaux (ULaval).
- Jocelyn Maclure and Hugo Cossette-Lefebvre (McGill) – Freedom of Speech, Autonomy and Epistemic Dependence;
- Denise Celentano (UdeM) – Ghost Work: Conceptual and Normative Concerns.
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Atrium Lunch
- 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Panel 5, Institutional Distrust and Political Emotions, chaired by Ryoa Chung (UdeM).
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- Natalie Stoljar and David Ho (McGill) – What is Institutional Distrust?;
- Laura Silva (ULaval) – On People’s Passion: On Emotion and Populism.
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Coffee Break
- 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Panel 6, Education and Democracy, chaired by Patrick Turmel (ULaval).
- Arash Abizadeh (McGill) – Popular Sovereignty vs Democracy: Or, How Rousseau Killed Democracy;
- Andrée-Anne Cormier (ENAP) – Democratic Education Today: Political Philosophy, Civic Skills, and Higher Education – CANCELED.
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Coffee Break
- 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Keynote Session, chaired by Ryoa Chung (UdeM).
- Daniel Weinstock (McGill) – The Challenge of Folk Political Philosophy.
7:00 pm – 8 :00 pm: Walk Old Town Gorgeous walk from Hotel Le Concorde through Quebec City’s famous old town.
8:00 pm – 10:30 pm: Le Don Dinner at Le Don, eclectic vegan spot for food and cocktails in beautiful Basse Ville.
Conference organizers: Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh (Associate Professor, Political Science, ULaval) Ryoa Chung (Full Professor, Philosophy, UdeM) Patrick Turmel (Full Professor, Philosophy, ULaval) Alexandre Petitclerc (PhD candidate, Philosophy, UdeM).
Our partners:
Chaire de recherche Démocratie et éthique publique
Centre de recherche en éthique (CRÉ)
Département de science politique, Université Laval
Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval
Institut d’éthique appliquée (IDÉA), Université Laval
Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire sur la normativité (GRIN)
Faculté des sciences sociales, Université Laval - 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Student Panel 1, chaired by Alexandre Gajevic Sayegh (ULaval).
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The CRÉ welcomes Chrisoula Andreou (University of Utah), who will give a presentation entitled “Benevolence, Free-Riding, and Efficacy.”
To participate via Zoom, click here (Meeting ID: 704 532 7051; Passcode: 9Me2EW).
