Teaching
I teach a variety of undergraduate courses at UMass Amherst. I've taught both introductory and advanced courses, both in person and online. Recently I also designed and piloted a course on teaching philosophy in public schools. I was recently awarded the UMass Philosophy Department Robison Prize for Teaching Excellence for 2019-2020. Here's a list of undergraduate courses I've taught:
- Introduction to Philosophy
- Introduction to Ethics
- Philosophy of Sport
- Practical Reasoning
- Conflict of Ideals
- Medical Ethics
- Existentialism
- Philosophy of Art
- Philosophy in Public Schools
Here are syllabi for the most recent courses I've taught at UMass and Springfield College.
Outreach
I have been a co-organizer of the UMass Philosophy in Public Schools (PiPS) Program since 2016. I designed and piloted a corresponding course in Spring 2019 that took focused on metaphilosophy and pedagogy while taking 25 UMass undergraduate students into a 2nd grade classroom for six weeks.
In 2021 I'm assisting Ned Markosian and Julia Jorati in the effort of founding the Matthews Center for Philosophy and Children at UMass. The Matthews Center will be a UMass center aimed to increase outreach for philosophy and UMass to the local community. We aim to empower children to never stop questioning. To that end, we will develop curriculum to introduce philosophy to K-12 classrooms in Western MA, especially Holyoke and Springfield. We are also developing programs for teachers and students to come to UMass to have fun doing philosophy. Our first program such will run in summer 2021, a two-week residential program at UMass for high school students called "Question Everything".
In 2021 I'm assisting Ned Markosian and Julia Jorati in the effort of founding the Matthews Center for Philosophy and Children at UMass. The Matthews Center will be a UMass center aimed to increase outreach for philosophy and UMass to the local community. We aim to empower children to never stop questioning. To that end, we will develop curriculum to introduce philosophy to K-12 classrooms in Western MA, especially Holyoke and Springfield. We are also developing programs for teachers and students to come to UMass to have fun doing philosophy. Our first program such will run in summer 2021, a two-week residential program at UMass for high school students called "Question Everything".