Dr. Susan Gardner

Dr. Sue Gardner Sue is a graduate of Oxford University in England, as well as Concordia University in Montreal. She taught in the Arts I program at UBC before coming to Capilano University in 1990. Her specialties in philosophy include critical thinking (her critical thinking text entitled Thinking Your Way to Freedom was published by Temple University Press in 2009), biomedical ethics, and environmental ethics. She is the founding director of the Vancouver Institute of Philosophy for Children and has published extensively on that topic.

Amongst others, her publications include: Interactive Reasoning: the Road to Freedom, published in Critical and Creative Thinking: The Australian Journal of Philosophy in Education. Vol. 12, No 2., November, 2004 , pp. 1 – 12; Autonomy: a Philosophical Capture. Published in Practical Philosophy , Vol. 4, no. 2, July, 2001 , pp. 19-22; and Teaching Freedom. Analytic Teaching, Vol. 21, No. 1, November, 2000, pp. 21-28. A recent publication is for a German anthology. It is entitled “Ich” Durch “Wir”: Autonomie Durch Gemeinschaft. Published in: Ethische Reflexionskompetenz Im Vor- Und Grundschulalter. Konzepte Des Philosophierens Mit Kindern . Eds: Marsal, Eva, Takara Dobashi, Barbara Weber and Felix G. Lund. Hodos: Peter-Lang Edition, 2007. Her most recent publications are Communicating Toward Personhood in Analytic Teaching, Vol. 29, No. 1, March, 2009, and Love Thy Neighbor? Maybe Not. Published in Children Philosophize Worldwide. Theoretical and Practical Concepts. Eds. Eva Marsal, Takara Dobashi and Barbara Weber. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Publisher 2009. 423-429.

Upcoming Courses:

Fall 2011:

In the fall of 2011, Sue will teach 2 Critical Thinking courses and a Biomedical Ethics course.

Spring 2012:

In the spring of 2012, Sue will teach 1 Critical Thinking course, an Existentialism and Literature course, and an Environmental Ethics course.

Summer 2012:

Sue will teach a condensed critical thinking course from May 7 to May 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 5days/week and a similar course Aug. 13 - 24, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 5days/week. Both these course are 3 credits courses and are equivalent to the typical critical thinking courses normally taught over a 13 week period.