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Research Interests:

• Philosophy of Society and Culture, Philosophy of Technology, Continental Philosophy, Agrarian Philosophy, Philosophy of Law

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy), Trent University
• Bachelor of Laws (Law), Swansea University
• Master of Arts (Philosophy: Political and Legal Thought), Queen’s University
• Master of Laws (Law), Queen’s University

Abigail’s current doctoral research builds upon her first Master’s thesis (MA) which applied Continental philosophy to the problem of driverless cars and considered why we should reject increasing oversight and automation in our everyday lives. While she is interested in techno-skepticism generally, including the works of Martin Heidegger and Jacques Ellul, her primary focus is on the American philosopher Albert Borgmann (1936-2023) and his framework for understanding the metaphysical and ethical implications of a life patterned by technology and the resulting disengagement, impoverishment and loss of culture, community and meaning. Her work seeks to call into question the meliorist assumption that our lives are improving with technological progress. To this end, she is especially interested in agrarian philosophy and the phenomenological distinction between urban and rural living, and to a similar aim, the role of traditional values and festivity in cultivating the good life.

Abigail’s other research interests include the philosophy of law, particularly constitutional rights jurisprudence and freedom of speech. Her second Master’s thesis (LLM) focused on the role of speech in online environments, whether online speech can be considered equivalent to forms of in-person or traditional distance communication, and how this tracks the moral and legal regulation of online environments. She also has an interest in Ontario landlord/tenant law, and is working on several projects related to reforming the RTA 2006 to better safeguard tenant rights.

Abigail has been published in The Journal of Camus Studies (2023), How Does the Digitization of Our World Change Our Orientation? (Orientations Press: 2023), and The Christian Scholar’s Review (2025), and she has forthcoming articles in the Lakehead Law Journal, the Ellul Forum and in the edited anthology Food, Technology and Society (Routledge: 2027). In addition, she has an active interest in improving student experience at Queen’s through her work as a Graduate Student Advisor with the Society of Graduate & Professional Students, and her participation on several Committees, including the Principal’s Advisor Committee, the Finance Committee, the Awards Committee and the Graduate Student Research & Academic Subcommittee.

In her spare time Abigail enjoys cooking, running, growing pumpkins and caring for her six cats.