The Institute for Liberal Studies

The Institute for Liberal Studies is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting discussions of economics, philosophy, history and public policy in Canada.

We offer educational seminars to teach students about the classical liberal foundation of Canadian society and its application to current issues and challenges. Those invited to speak at ILS seminars span the political spectrum. We encourage discussion and debate about issues grounded in democracy, rule of law, markets and personal freedoms.

ILS seminars focus on themes such as the relationship between economics and government, environmental policy and social policy. Many of our one-day seminars are held on university campuses, while the Liberty Summer Seminar is held over two-days at Hillside Estates in Orono, Ontario. Campus seminars are generally offered at no-cost to students, and the LSS is run on a cost-recovery basis with a discounted rate offered to students. We will consider waiving the attendance fee for students who find the cost of attending prohibitive.

PEOPLE

Matt Bufton, Executive Director

Matt served on the Institute's board of directors from 2006-2010. In April he resigned from the board in order to assume the position of Executive Director with responsibility for the day-to-day management of the ILS.

A 2002 graduate from the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business he worked for a private sector insurance provider in marketing and project management before returning to school for graduate studies in 2008.

Matt is currently an MA candidate in political science at the University of Windsor and is working towards his Master's in Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He was the recipient of a Humane Studies Fellowship in 2008/09 and 2009/10 and participated in the Atlas Economic Research Foundation's MBA for Think Tank Management in August 2008.

Jan Narveson, Director

Dr. Narveson was educated at the University of Chicago (B.A. in Political Science, 1955, and in Philosophy, 1956); and earned the PhD at Harvard (1961) with a year at Oxford (1959-60) on a travelling Fellowship. He has taught at the University of New Hampshire, U.S.A., 1961-3, after which he taught at the University of Waterloo. He was Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins (1967), Stanford (1968), and Calgary (1976), and was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Center for Philosophy and Public Affairs at Bowling Green State University, Ohio (Fall 1990). He taught at the University of Waterloo until his retirement in 2004 (and has continued in part-time teaching since). In 2006, Jan was designated a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

He is or has been also on the editorial boards of many journals, such as Ethics, Social Philosophy and Policy, Journal of Social Philosophy, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, Philosophy Research Archives, The Journal of Value Inquiry, the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Dialogue, and Public Affairs Quarterly, and serves or has served as referee for many other journals and for several University presses. He frequently presents papers, talks, and commentaries at workshops, conferences, and colloquia around North America, in the United Kingdom, and occasionally elsewhere.

Peter Jaworski, Director

Peter is a graduate of Queen's University (BA - 2002), the University of Waterloo (MA - 2004), and the London School of Economics (M.Sc. - 2005). He is currently completing his Ph.D. in Philosophy at Bowling Green State University.

During 2008-09 Peter was a Visiting Instructor at the College of Wooster in Ohio specializing in ethics (applied and normative), social and political philosophy.

Janet Neilson, Director

Janet has degrees in Commerce and Economics from the University of Windsor and has worked as a health policy communications associate for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Avril Allen, Director

Avril is a litigator with Toronto law firm Boghosian and Associates, and is an advisory board member of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. Ms. Allen was called to the Ontario Bar in 2000. She has authored and co-authored several articles in areas such as constitutional law and public interest litigation, as well as other areas of law relating to public authorities.

Kerry Wall, Web Site Design & Admin

Kerry has a Bachelor of Journalism from Ryerson University (2007) and works in new media. She does web design work on a freelance and volunteer basis.