C4E Undergraduate Research Conference 2022: Ethics, Healing & Reconciliation [2022 C4eJ 35]

This symposium is based on an online interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, on July 2, 2022.

The second C4E Undergraduate Research Conference, entitled Ethics, Healing & Reconciliation, brings together UofT students and recent graduates from across disciplines to present and discuss research in the spirit of the C4E’s mission to explore the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life. Additionally, we shall publish the selected papers in the Centre’s multimedia online journal, C4eJournal.

About the theme: The global pandemic is an ongoing battle that affects all spheres of life—including: politics, education, economics, healthcare, and our interpersonal relationships. Such dramatic changes warrant thoughtful reflection on how society shall “heal” in both a literal and figurative sense. We are interested in investigating questions such as: what constitutes an ethical approach to resuming activities given the health and access-based inequities wrought by the pandemic? What is the place of “reconciliation” in quotidian life at a personal level and a larger policy level? In light of these questions, we have selected diverse projects that either focus on the pandemic directly or concern the themes of reconciliation, community building, and overcoming adversity.


Panel I — Evaluating Fairness in the Community

  • Ana BrinkerhoffUnenforced Policy in Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes: Unequal Access in Public and Private Healthcare in a Pandemic
  • Cheryl CheungA Brave New Age of Damages: The Need for Independent and Reimagined Autonomous Vehicle Insurance

Panel II — Promoting Reconciliation and Inclusivity

  • Michael DemonePublic History, Ethics, and Reconciliation
  • James RalphGender Dysphoria does not Belong in the DSM

Panel III — The Philosophy of Human Flourishing

  • Ariel LaFayetteMarriage in Modernity
  • Radheesh AmeresekereTowards a Perfectionist Account of Human Rights