Teaching

Science courses

• Introduction to Forensic Psychology (FSC220)

  This course provides an introductory overview of the many ways psychological research and theories (i.e., behavioural science) can deliver useful information in collecting and assessing evidence for criminal investigation, trial, and prevention. Topics may include: eyewitness testimony, deception, criminal profiling, false confession, mental illness, victim trauma, criminal responsibility, risk assessment, serial killing, hate crimes, sexual offending, prejudiced policing, and jury decision-making. The aim of this course is to give students general insight into the various applied specializations of forensic psychologists.

• Introduction to Forensic Science (FSC239)

  Forensic science is the application of any scientific inquiry into criminal investigation. The results of such inquiry are ultimately for presentation in courts of law. In this survey course, experts in forensic science will lecture on a variety of topics that include crime scene investigation, the role of the coroner, forensic pathology, forensic chemistry, forensic entomology, forensic anthropology, forensic dentistry, psychology, and toxicology. Case studies will be reviewed and the role of the expert witness will be examined.

• Forensic Psychopathology (FSC320)

  Pathology is the study of disease and psychopathology is the study of mental illness. In Forensic Psychopathology, then, we make inquiries about mental illness in the context of forensic practices. In this course, we will explore multiple topics in the field providing the student with a general insight into its history, scientific merits, and practical relevance. We will survey prevailing theories on mental health, illness, and treatment. Investigate psychiatric diagnoses such as (juvenile) Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Psychopathy, hereunder their application and relevance in risk assessment, behavior prediction, and offender rehabilitation. We will also discuss methodological, ethical, and legal issues in the field, for example, the scientific validity of psychiatric diagnostics, the ethical implications of using psychiatric assessments in forensic institutions, and the legal responsibility of mentally ill offenders.

• Forensic Epistemology: Scientific Knowledge and the Legal System (FSC335)

  Epistemology is the study of the nature and limitations of human knowledge, exploring challenging questions such as: What makes some beliefs more justified than others? Why are we so compelled by the insights of modern science? Are there practical limitations to what we can know? In Forensic Epistemology, we examine how such questions apply to practices within the legal system, from criminal investigations to sentencing and correctional management. The course focuses on how scientific knowledge can be used to improve decision-making around legal issues, while identifying the limitations of forensic science more broadly. Through discussions and case studies, we cover a wide range of topics: the validity and reliability of forensic identification techniques; the demarcation of science from non-science; the influence of cognitive biases in scientific research and criminal investigations; methods in critical and statistical inferential thinking; and standards in research methods and communication.

• Psychopathy and Crime: The Science, Ethics, and Legal Influence of a Controversial Diagnosis (FSC350)

  This course offers a critical examination of Psychopathic Personality Disorder or “psychopathy”—a diagnosis historically associated with callousness, lack of empathy, and chronic antisocial behavior. Since the 1990s, psychopathy has played an increasingly prominent role in the U.S. and Canadian criminal justice systems, influencing decisions related to sentencing, rehabilitation, and parole. Drawing on insights from contemporary psychological research, students will explore the historical, scientific, and ethical dimensions of this controversial diagnosis. Core questions include: How dangerous are individuals labeled as psychopathic? Can psychopathic individuals benefit from treatment? Are there identifiable neurobiological markers of psychopathy? Do current theories provide a coherent account of the disorder? And, crucially, is it ethically justifiable to use the diagnosis in legal contexts? The course is based on Psychopathy Unmasked: The Rise and Fall of a Dangerous Diagnosis by Dr. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen and encourages students to think critically about how contested psychological constructs shape real-world legal outcomes.

• The Psychology of Evil (FSC350)

  Violence and antisocial conduct is a stable mark of human nature. Though humans share some of these violent inclinations with closely related mammals, human evildoings nevertheless stand out on a number of parameters. In this course we examine these uniquely human forms of moral disengagement; from large-scale political evils such as genocides, to individualistic evils such as serial killing. We will be approaching the topic from a psychological perspective, namely, investigating the scientific accounts of the many forms of evil behaviors. While the aim of this course is to survey the psychological underpinnings of evil broadly construed, specific focus areas include defining evil from a moral psychological standpoint, analyzing contributing sociological factors, and assessing the role of psychological abnormality.

• Seminar in Forensic Science (FSC430)

  As a capstone course, FSC430H5 is intended to apply the unique interdisciplinary perspectives acquired by students enrolled in the Forensic Science Minor. This course will address key themes in forensics, and culminate in a collaborative course project, informed and shaped by these perspectives. Students can expect to work in partnerships, groups, or teams to investigate and discuss major issues, hot topics, historical events or growing bodies of knowledge that contribute to a broader understanding of forensic science and how it is relevant across many, if not all disciplines.

Philosophy courses

• Philosophy and Scientific Progress: The Role of Formal and Applied Ontology (PHL2196)Graduate

  Philosophy is traditionally described as an academic discipline fundamentally different from those in the natural sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc. An often-highlighted difference is that philosophy is characterised as a speculative or a priori approach to knowledge formation, thus strictly disjointed from the natural sciences that are predominately informed by empirical experimentation. However, recent developments in modern science have demonstrated why this “hard” distinction between philosophy and science is untenable and obscures philosophy’s role in scientific progress. In this course, we explore some of these developments, focusing mainly on contributions in the field of formal and applied ontology. To most philosophers, ontology is synonymous with metaphysics, a branch of philosophy concerned with outlining and elucidating the most basic categorisation of reality (e.g., dispositions, properties, processes, etc.). However, to a rapidly growing group of philosophers, ontology is also synonymous with a method in computer and data science broadly praised for its innovative role in advancing knowledge in an array of scientific domains (such as genomics, artificial intelligence, mental health, etc.). During the semester, we will explore the history, influence, and real achievements of formal and applied ontology; moreover, the important role we philosophers can play in advancing scientific knowledge.

• Philosophy in Science: Current Trends in Formal and Applied Ontology (PHL2196)Graduate

  Philosophy is traditionally described as a discipline fundamentally different from those in the natural sciences such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc. An often-highlighted difference is that philosophy is characterized as a speculative or a priori approach to knowledge formation, strictly disjointed from the natural sciences that are predominately informed by empirical experimentation. However, recent developments in philosophy have demonstrated why this “hard” distinction between philosophy and science is untenable and obscures philosophy’s role in scientific progress. In this course, we explore these developments, focusing mainly on contributions from the field of formal and applied ontology, and how these have innovated research methods in an array of scientific domains ranging from genetics to artificial intelligence to mental health studies. During the semester, we will cover themes in the history of metaphysics and formal ontology; innovations in, and the utility of applied ontology; and case studies from the use of (formal and applied) ontology across scientific disciplines and domains.

• Advanced Introduction to Philosophy of Science (PHL2198)Graduate

  Philosophy of science is a subbranch of philosophy concerned with the foundational aspects of scientific inquiry, such as its basic methods, epistemic limitations, and social implications. This course offers an advanced introduction to a broad range of classic, contemporary, and emerging topics in philosophy of science. Themes to be explored during the semester may include: the demarcation of science vs. non-science, the scientific method, theory formation and testing, scientific realism and empiricism, scientific progress, inductive and abductive reasoning, and modelling and taxonomic categorisation. We may also explore more applied issues such as: bias in scientific inquiry, AI and digital knowledge representation, challenges in mental health research, and the replication crisis in behavioural science.

• Existentialism (PHL220)

  Human perception and knowledge of reality; freedom and the meaning of human life; sexuality and the body. Authors include Heidegger, Buber, Marcel, Camus, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty.

• Philosophy at the Movies (PHL221)

  This course considers fundamental philosophical themes - the meaning of life and death, the nature of responsibility, fate and agency, knowledge and illusion, personal identity, alienation and belonging, love and sex, politics, ethics, and morality, among others - through film. The course also considers some questions about film as a philosophical genre: of the medium of film as an alternative medium (an alternative to language and explicit argument) of philosophical expression; of whether and how film may convey philosophical insight otherwise unavailable; and of the role of interpretation in understanding film philosophically.

• Philosophy of Art (PHL285)

  A study of some of the most important philosophical questions about art. For example, what exactly is a work of art? Can any object whatsoever be, or become, an artwork? Who or what determines whether something is art? Does each person decide for themselves, or does a certain community (the "art world") decide? Can one interpretation or evaluation of a work be better, or more justified, than another? If so, how do we tell which one is better?

• The Continental Tradition (PHL324)

  A study of recent traditions of continental philosophy such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, structuralism and post-structuralism. Figures such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, the Frankfurt school, Lacan, Foucault, Deleuze and Derrida.

Forthcoming continuing education (CE credit) courses and seminars will be listed here.

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