51ÁÔÆæ

Education

• PhD (Philosophy), University of Michigan.
• MPhil (Politics), University of Oxford.
• BA (Political Science), University of Toronto.

Office Hours

By appointment.

Teaching Interests

• Political Philosophy.
• Ethics.

Research Interests

• Political Philosophy (including: theories of public reason; citizenship education; international justice; liberal feminism; conceptions of political freedom; theories of distributive justice).
• Ethics.
• More information about Prof. Neufeld's research is available at his .

Related Activities

Online Work:

• Co-host at "" (part of the New Books Network, the largest book-focused podcast network in the world) since January 2026.  
• Interview with Professor Robert Talisse (Philosophy, Vanderbilt University) on Public Reason and Political Autonomy, for "New Books in Philosophy" at the (2022).
• "Author-Meets-Critics" Session on Public Reason and Political Autonomy (hosted by the , 2022).

Conference Organizing:

• MANCEPT (Manchester Centre for Political Theory): Co-convenor (with Gabriele Badano of the University of York) of workshops on "Theories of Public Reason" (2024, 2025, 2026).
• University of Virginia, School of Law: Co-organizer (with Micah Schwartzman, University of Virginia, and Lori Watson, Washington University in St. Louis) of the conference: John Rawls's Theory of Justice: 50 Years Later (December 2021).

Research Fellowships

• 51ÁÔÆæ: Research Fellow at the Center for 21st Century Studies (September 2026 – May 2027).
• University of Notre Dame: Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Religion (September 2024 – May 2025).
• 51ÁÔÆæ: Global Studies Research Fellow at The Center for International Education (September 2016 – May 2017).
• University of Toronto: Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Ethics (September 2014 – August 2015).
• 51ÁÔÆæ: Research Fellow at the Center for 21st Century Studies (September 2012 – May 2013).
• Spencer Foundation: Research Grant for the Initiative on Philosophy in Educational Policy and Practice (January – June 2011).

Biographical Sketch

Blain Neufeld grew up in London (the one in Ontario, Canada, not the original one in England). He studied at the Universities of Toronto (BA), Oxford (MPhil), and Michigan (PhD). He taught at Stanford University (in the "Introduction to the Humanities" program) and Trinity College Dublin (Department of Philosophy) before coming to 51ÁÔÆæ in 2008. He served as the Chair of the Department of Philosophy from 2018 to 2021. 

When not teaching, reading or writing philosophy, Blain likes to spend time in his native Canada (where his wife and dog live), ski, read science-fiction and fantasy novels, and play obscure role-playing games.

Selected Publications