Classes
The graduate seminar involves paper presentations on current research by graduate students, department and cognate faculty, and visiting scholars. Graduate students must register in and attend the seminar on a continuous basis, and are only eligible to graduate once they have successfully presented a seminar.
All Masters students taking the thesis-based option must register for this course in every term.
Maintenance of Status
All Masters students taking the course-based option must register for "Maintenance of Status" for every term in which they are not registered in a course for credit.
GSR 960 Introduction to Ethics and Integrity
All graduate students are required to register for this short online course upon commencing their programs. The purpose of this course is to discuss ethical issues that graduate students may face during their time at the university. The five modules in GSR 960 look at general issues for graduate students including integrity and scholarship, graduate student–supervisor relationships, conflict of interest, conflict resolution, and intellectual property and credit.
Term 1: Fall 2026
PHIL 820 – Philosophical Texts: Psychiatry and Drugs
Instructor: Sarah Hoffman
Contact: sarah.hoffman@usask.ca
Schedule: MWF 10:30 am - 11:20 am
PHIL 833 – Advanced Seminar in Ethics: Interpersonal Ethics
Lives in Time: Meaning, Loss, and Relationships
“You only live once!” is a truism that many find meaningful. But what is it to live a human life? This question is often glossed over. Instead, we pay attention to what it means to live a good life. In this course, we will focus on what it is like to lead a human life and only secondarily consider what consequences this has for conceptions of a good life. We will begin with a careful study of Samuel Scheffler’s One Life to Lead. In it, Scheffler investigates two inter-related and under-appreciated aspects of the human life: it is lived through time, and our attachments to others and ideals are foundational across a life. Topics discussed will include: bias toward future over past experience; changing emotions through the passage of time; being situated in a historical period; aging and grief; the contingency of each human life; and the normative significance of intimate relationships. Students successfully completing this class will have a clear understanding of how the arguments developed in Scheffler’s work are meant to challenge “detached” conceptions of life and ethics, and will develop their own philosophical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of his position. Students will gain practical benefits by applying these ideas to their own lives.
Instructor: Emer O'Hagan
Contact: emer.ohagan@usask.ca
Schedule: TTh 11:30 am - 12:50 pm
Coordinator: Robert Hudson
Contact: roh784@mail.usask.ca
Schedule: TBA – see course Canvas page
Term 2: Winter 2027
PHIL 820 – Philosophical Texts: Epistemic Bias
Instructor: Robert Hudson
Contact: roh784@mail.usask.ca
Schedule: TTh 4:00 pm - 5:20 pm
PHIL 820 – Philosophical Texts in Legal Pragmatism
Philosophical texts in legal pragmatism will be a particular focus for this graduate course. We will examine Holmes’ The Path of Law and Posner’s influential book entitled Law, Pragmatism and Democracy, but also the versions of legal positivism presented by Richard Rorty and Susan Haack. Although they all agree that pragmatism has something to offer to the study and practice of law, they disagree significantly about their understanding of pragmatism, and the kind of contributions pragmatism can make to our understanding of law and legal practice. By the end of this course, students should achieve a critical understanding of legal pragmatism and its place in debates within philosophy of law.
PHIL 833 – Advanced Seminar in Ethics: Wellbeing
Instructor: Diana Heney
Contact: dianaheney@usask.ca
Schedule: M 3:30 pm - 5:50 pm
Coordinator: Robert Hudson
Contact: roh784@mail.usask.ca
Schedule: TBA – see course Canvas page