Susan Dieleman is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Jarislowsky Chair in Trust & Political Leadership at the University of Lethbridge. She specializes in political philosophy, pragmatism, and feminist philosophy, focusing on questions about how to make democracy more inclusive and just. She is a co-editor of and contributor to The Ethics of Richard Rorty: Moral Communities, Self-Transformation, and Imagination as well as Pragmatism and Justice. Currently, she is working on a monograph that develops a nonideal theory of deliberative democracy informed by pragmatist and feminist theory, as well as a series of projects on the nature of trust and the relationship between distrust and resistance movements.

You can find a list of her publications on her PhilPeople profile here, her ORCiD profile here, or her Google Scholar profile here. You can learn more about the Network of Jarislowsky Chairs in Trust & Political Leadership here.

If you want to do a project having to do with dis/trust and/or deliberation, take a look at our “opportunities” tab and contact her.

Trudy Govier is a Canadian philosopher best known for her work in the areas of informal logic and social philosophy. She has taught at Trent University, the University of Calgary, and the University of Lethbridge. Her many books and papers include the widely used text A Practical Study of Argument (seven editions); Problems in Argument Analysis and Evaluation; The Philosophy of Argument; Forgiveness and Revenge; and Dilemmas of Trust.

Trudy has a strong interest in issues of peace and conflict and was a co-founder in 1982 of the Calgary Ploughshares group, initially a branch of the national group, Project Ploughshares. She has also worked with Healthy Calgary, the Calgary United Way, the Calgary Birth Control Association and the Calgary Association for Lifetime Learners.

Trudy retired in 2012 but remains active, initiating projects and responding to request, especially in the area of informal logic.

Yale Belanger is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Lethbridge. His current project addresses the misinformation, disinformation and polarization that characterizes the public perception of homelessness.

Here is how he describes his project: I’ve started analyzing how small-city media outlets and municipal governments frame homelessness, focusing on how these narratives shape public perception and policy. What concerns me most is the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation, especially when homelessness is portrayed primarily as a public safety issue. Why do local leaders increasingly default to these alarmist portrayals? And how does this affect how residents perceive the issue?

This use of fear-based rhetoric isn’t new—it’s a longstanding political tactic. As homelessness becomes more visible and complex, the public discourse has also grown more polarized as the institutions that present homelessness as a threat to community stability are, arguably, themselves contributing to the very instability they claim to oppose. By critically examining and confronting these narratives, I aim to help create space for dialogue that moves beyond fear, reducing polarization and encouraging more thoughtful, practical responses.