Brett Buchanan
Brett Buchanan
BIO
Professionally, I sit on a number of scholarly boards and committees, including Wilfrid Laurier University Press's Environmental Humanities book series, Environmental Humanities journal, and Animalities, a new book series with Edinburgh University Press.
In 2018 I was the President of the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada (ALECC) (and Past-President, 2019), and I have previously served as Secretary and V-P of The Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture (EPTC). Through my research and administrative roles, I have led and co-organized several colloquia & workshops, including Thinking Extinction (Sudbury, 2013) and Field Philosophy (Paris, 2017).
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In addition to the above, my teaching and research include additional personal interests like sports ethics, aesthetics, philosophies of technology, and place-based outdoor education. The latter has led me to collaborate with LU's Outdoor Adventure Leadership program, and in June 2019 I was fortunate to thru-hike, together with 3rd year students, the Daisetzusan mountain range for 10 days in Hokkaido, Japan (photo: right), and in autumn 2021 participate in a 7 day canoe expedition in northern Ontario.
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Within the community I have actively worked and volunteered with environmental and arts NGOs, and supported local initiatives and advocacy groups to promote safer, healthier, and more inclusive lifestyles.
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I'm an avid reader of all genres, and a passionate advocate of the arts, the environment, and higher education. I run, bike, hike, and cross-country ski whenever possible ... including to campus!
Hello! Welcome to my website. I am pleased to say that as of August 1, 2022, I will be Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE). Our family is thrilled to be moving to Edmonton and closer to family and the mountains. I am a philosopher with broad interdisciplinary interests, and teaching and research expertise in contemporary continental philosophy, ethics, environmental humanities, and animal studies. I am currently finalizing a translation of L'animalité by Dominique Lestel, researching the philosophical ethology within the "nature fakers" controversy, and writing, somewhat tentatively, a creative work on cross-country skiing.
Previously I was a tenured Full Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies, and taught at Laurentian University from 2006-2021. From 2014 to 2020 I was the Director of the School of the Environment (a unit that included Archaeology, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Études de l'environnement, and Science Communication), and I was previously Chair of the Department of Philosophy (2009, 2010, 2013-2015). I was also affiliated with Laurentian's Humanities M.A. and the Human Studies Ph.D., graduate programs through which I supervised students.
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In 2015 I was a Visiting Fellow at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, where I was able to pursue research projects with colleagues in philosophical ethology, and during a six-month sabbatical in 2017 I was a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure in Paris. During spring and summer of 2021 I was an Environmental Humanities Visiting Research Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh (a virtual fellowship due to COVID19). During 2021-2022 I was a Visiting Scholar in the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism (CSTC) at Western University.
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Education
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DePaul University (PhD, 2006)
University of Western Ontario (MA, 1999)
University of Alberta (BA Honours, 1997)
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Academic Appointments
2022- present: Dean of Arts & Professor of Philosophy, Concordia University of Edmonton
2022-present: Adjunct Academic Colleague, Department of Philosophy, University of Alberta
2021-2022: Visiting Scholar, Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism, Western University
2021: Environmental Humanities Visiting Research Fellow, IASH, University of Edinburgh (Scotland)
2018 - 2021: Full Professor, Laurentian University
2014- 2020: Director, School of the Environment, Laurentian University
2017: Visiting Researcher, Department of Philosophy, École Normale Supérieure (Paris, France)
2013 - present: Adjunct professor, York University
2007 - 2021: Core faculty member, Humanities MA, Laurentian University
2007 - 2021: Associate faculty member, Human Studies PhD, Laurentian University
2011 - 2018: Associate Professor, Laurentian University
2015: Visiting Fellow, Curtin University (Perth, Australia)
2006 - 2011: Assistant Professor, Laurentian University
2004 - 2006: Instructor, York University