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My view is that philosophy can help with some of the most difficult choices we face in life. But I don’t think of practical guidance as something I give students directly. I try to engage them in habits of self-reflection that will help them guide themselves. This aim informs all aspects of my teaching: from course objectives and materials to activities and assessments.
In Spring 2025, I taught Political and Legal Philosophy (PHIL 318) at Chapman. In January 2026 I will be co-teaching Social In(Justice) (ECON/PHIL 357) with Bart Wilson.
While in graduate school at USC, I was an instructor of record for courses on early modern philosophy, logic/critical thinking, and ethics. As a Teaching Assistant, I led discussion sections for political philosophy, ethics, and ancient philosophy.
Information on previous courses taught can be found below. Here is my Teaching Portfolio. (Updates in progress!)
Political and Legal Philosophy (PHIL 318). Spring 2025, Chapman University. Instructor of record.
Activity: The Original Position. Early in our unit on John Rawls, students created characters, decided on principles of justice in groups, and then assessed how other characters would fare under those principles.
Original Position Activity.pdfActivity: Mapping Anderson's History of Work. In groups, students created visual representations of Elizabeth Anderson's view of the history of work in Chapter 1 of Private Government.
Anderson's History of Work Assignment.pdfVideo: Rights as Side Constraints. This video was not used in the course, but it covers material from a lecture after students read the story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin and an excerpt from Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick.
History of Western Philosophy: Modern Period (PHIL 320). Spring 2023, USC. Instructor of record.
As a Mentored Teaching Fellow of USC's Center for Excellence in Teaching. 25 students. In-person.
Handout: Timeline of course readings alongside major historical events; given to students during the first week.
PHIL 320 - Early Modern Philosophy Timeline.pdfPre/Post Course Survey. Students answered and then discussed the same survey questions, related to the course content, on the first and last day of class.
Asynchronous Course Videos: Introductory material for Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Created for students to watch prior to each of the four Kant readings. Transcripts.
Class Recordings: Kant Day 1 (with some Hume) and Wollstonecraft Day 1. To preserve student privacy, all student comments and contributions to discussion have been edited out. If you have any questions or would like more information about these class sessions or higher-definition versions, please contact me.
For Kant slides see here. For Wollstonecraft slides see here.
Assignment 2: Informal Fallacies. During an early unit on informal fallacies, students were asked to analyze and evaluate specific arguments from Jonathan Swan's interview of Donald Trump from August 2020. Interview uploaded to Vimeo (originally on YouTube)
Assignment 2 for 122.pdfAssignment 7: Applying Predicate Logic. After beginning predicate logic, students received another 2020 U.S. election-related assignment. Four questions about truth trees were to be completed in groups. The other five asked students to reconstruct arguments from the Vice Presidential debate, translate them into predicate logic, and evaluate them. Video of debate.
Assignment 7 for 122B.pdfAsynchronous Course Video: Truth Tables. Created for students to watch before class. They came to class with questions about the material and ready to work through example problems as a group.
Asynchronous Course Video: Updating on Evidence and the Base Rate Fallacy. Created for students to watch before class, alongside a required reading from David Manley's Reason Better textbook.
A student's column from the Daily Trojan, USC's student newspaper. The student draws on course content and credits the course for helping to inspire the piece.
(3x) Ethics in the 21st Century: Business, Politics, and Technology (CORE 195). Summers 2019, 2020, 2021, USC. Co-instructor of record.
For USC's Summer Programs for High School Students. I designed and co-taught this course with David Clark in 2019, Jasmine Gunkel in 2020, and Laura Siscoe in 2021. 15-30 students: high schoolers seeking college credit. 2019 in-person, 2020 and 2021 online.
2021 Voting on a Desert Island.pdfOriginal Voting System Activity.pdfIntroduction to Ethics. Fall 2020, USC Prison Education Project. Co-instructor of record.
Taught incarcerated students in the Santa Fe Springs Transitional Reentry Program. Very small class: attendance varied and students were not permitted to have the classroom camera on. Online.
Ancient Foundations of Western Thought (PHIL 104). Fall 2022, USC. Teaching Assistant.
Two discussion sections. Lead instructor: John Dreher. Mostly in-person.
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