Teaching

Teaching is truly one of my favorite parts of the job. I love cultivating, if not a love of, at least an appreciation for philosophy in students from all kinds of backgrounds. I encourage students to engage with philosophy in creative ways, allowing flexibility in assignment structure and creating opportunities for students to get "out of classroom" experience during class time. Outside of the classroom, I pay special attention to the needs of my students. I dedicate time to reach out personally to students who are struggling or whose engagement in the course changes dramatically in order to ensure they have access to the support and resources they need in a timely manner. I am constantly learning about and experimenting with different approaches to teaching and strive to be adaptable to the needs of each particular group of students.

Teaching Articles

Designing an Undergraduate Philosophy Mentoring Program: A Response to the Leaky Pipeline

Teaching Philosophy, with Heather Brant, Robert Weston Siscoe, and Lesley Walker. Forthcoming.

Experience & Competencies

Primary Instructor:

  • PHIL1304 Morality and Justice, Virginia Tech, Fall 2019 & Spring 2020.
  • PHIL2304 Global Ethics, Virginia Tech, Fall 2019.

Teaching Assistant:

  • PHIL288 Love and its Representations in Western Literature, Film, and Philosophy (for Edwin McCann), USC, Spring 2023.
  • PHIL246 Foundations of Cognitive Science (for Alexis Wellwood and Toby Mintz), USC, Fall 2022.
  • PHIL284 Ideas on Trial (for Edwin McCann), USC, Spring 2022.
  • PHIL255 Existentialism in Philosophy, Literature, and Film (for Edwin McCann), USC, Fall 2021.
  • PHIL1304 Morality and Justice (for Karen Kovaka), Virginia Tech, Spring 2019.
Lectured on 4/22/19 (150 students)
  • PHIL1304 Morality and Justice (for Sukaina Hirji), Virginia Tech, Fall 2018, Fall 2017.
Lectured on 11/14/18 (300 students)
  • PHIL1504 Language and Logic (for Greg Novack), Virginia Tech, Spring 2018.

Other Teaching Competencies:

  • Bioethics
  • Critical Reasoning
  • Continental Philosophy (particularly Existentialism)
  • Low Level Logic
  • Low Level Philosophy of Science

Samples

Syllabi

Personhood at the Margins

Designed to be an upper level course exploring questions about personal identity, moral agency, and the concept of 'the self' with a focus on "marginal cases" (fetuses, animals, individuals with cognitive impairments, etc.).Click here for final project instruction sheet.

Morality & Justice Spring 2020

An introductory class to ethics, social philosophy, and political philosophy. Taught as Primary Instructor at Virginia Tech.

Global Ethics Fall 2019

An introductory course focusing on ethics in a global context. Taught as Primary Instructor at Virginia Tech.

Teaching Aids

Teaching Videos

Please enjoy this collection of memes made by my previous students.