Brandon Morgan-Olsen

Social and Political Philosophy

Brandon Morgan-Olsen is currently serving as the Postdoctoral Fellow in Democracy and Diversity at Queen's University, under the supervision of Professor Will Kymlicka.  He graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Grinnell College, and recently earned a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, defending a dissertation entitled "Listening in Public: Duties of Civility in a Pluralistic Democracy". 

His primary research is in social and political philosophy, grounded in accounts of deliberative democracy that stem from John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas.  His work specifically addresses ethical issues having to do with political deliberation, public reason, and political inclusion.  He is presently writing articles about our civic obligations with respect to public political deliberation and about the public "translation" of minority group claims.  He will teach a Contemporary Moral Philosophy course at Queen's discussing issues of respect, tolerance, and civility. 

He also pursues research in philosophy of science, and for two years was the graduate research assistant for the University of Washington Science Studies Network (http://depts.washington.edu/ssnet).  His homepage can be viewed at http://tiny.cc/morgan-olsen.