Colloquium Series
Colloquium 2024-2025
October 25, 2024Speaker: Dr. Carla Fehr, University of Waterloo Title: 'Who the computer sees: Race, gender, and AI' Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 103 Abstract: Facial recognition systems can do a lot more than open your smartphone. They can sort faces into many categories, including emotional state, age, race, and sex. Without their consent, most Americans are included in searchable government face recognition databases. Facial recognition systems are being built into our everyday lives and an increasingly wide range of social institutions. This paper develops a case study, Gender Shades, in which scholar, activist, and public figure Joy Buolamwini identifies a now-famous failure of facial recognition systems to ‘see’ and accurately classify Black women’s faces. Gender Shades provides a valuable case to explore the benefits and limitations of feminist philosophy of science research on the significance of diversity in science and technology.
Bio: Carla Fehr holds the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo and leads the University of Waterloo’s Gender and Social Justice Program. She holds a BSc from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD from Duke University. Dr. Fehr is a member of the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute and the Consortium for Engendering Success in STEM. She is a co-founder and co-editor of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly. Dr. Fehr’s research, which focuses on values in science and the role of diversity in developing excellent scientific and technological research, has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Dr. Fehr founded Championing Women in STEM, an enterprise that provides leadership and career coaching for women in traditionally male-dominated fields.
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November 29, 2024Speaker: Dr. Paul Simard Smith, University of Regina Title: 'Inherent Rights to Self-Government and Constitutional Authority' Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 112 Abstract: Recent agreements between Métis governments and Canada recognize the Métis Nation’s inherent right to self-government. However, this recognition raises the question: what is the nature of this inherent right? In particular, what kind of jurisdiction is associated with it? We argue that – from a conceptual and ethical standpoint – the powers associated with this right ought to be regarded as inherent, not delegated by the Crown, and as including constitutional authority with respect to the Constitution of Canada. We develop this case in several stages. First, we provide a conceptual analysis of the inherent right to self-government; highlighting that the proper understanding of this concept favors a view in which its jurisdiction is not delegated by the Crown. Moreover, pairing this notion of the inherent right with a conceptual analysis of the notion of constitutional authority we show that, in the Canadian context, the powers associated with the inherent right should include a fair measure of constitutional authority. Next, we draw on the Métis self-government agreements as a case study to further discuss our conceptions of the inherent right. We note that there are provisions within the agreements that appear to recognize the constitutional authority of Métis Governments, and adequately respect the inherent right to self-government. However, there are also clauses that could be used to deny the constitutional authority of Métis governments and recognize only a nominal right to self-government in which the powers associated with this right are fully delegated. Ultimately, legislatures, courts, and citizens – both those of the Métis Nation and Canada – are approaching a crossroads in which a path between these different options must be determined. We close by making a political and ethical argument for regarding the inherent right as associated with inherent non-delegated jurisdiction that includes constitutional authority in the Canadian legal order.
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January 17, 2025Speaker: Dr. Peter Alward, University of Saskatchewan Title: TBA Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 103
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February 7, 2025Speaker: Dr. Sarah Hoffman, University of Saskatchewan Title: "Should We Think Addiction is Fiction?" Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 103
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March 7, 2025Speaker: Dr. Dwayne Moore, University of Saskatchewan Title: TBA Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 103
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March 28, 2025Speaker: Dr. Pierre-François Noppen, University of Saskatchewan Title: TBA Time: 3:30- 5:00 pm Location: ESB 103
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