Dr. Robert Gibbs

Inaugural Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Toronto, Canada​​

Dr. Robert Gibbs.pngRobert Gibbs recently completed a 10-year term as Inaugural Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute. He is a Professor of Philosophy and of Religion. He ​​served as a member of the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Chair of its Programs and Quality Committee, and was a member of the International Advisory Board of CHCI (Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes).

His current research focuses on Higher Education, and he has recently completed a book-length manuscript, The University in Question: Ideas in Dialogue. In it, he inquires what a Research University is for and explores different models of universities by refocusing on the research capacities of students.

His previous research is located on the borderlines of philosophy and religion, with a comparative and historical focus on law and ethics. He has worked on ethics in relation to the modern Jewish philosophical tradition and has numerous publications in this and in related fields in continental philosophy.​​​