Teaching

Statement of teaching philosophy, course reviews and sample syllabi can be found in my teaching portfolio.

In 2018/2019 I built The Socrates Project from the ground-up, a senior seminar for undergraduates in which they worked as teaching assistants and developed a year-long major research paper. Part of developing this course involved creating a handbook to provide resources for brand new TAs. It can be found here (it is a work in progress):

TA Handbook

Current Position
Postdoc at the University of Southern Denmark

Teaching Abilities
Graduate and Upper-Level Undergraduate: Epistemology, Early Analytic
Introductory and Lower-Level Undergraduate: 17th/18th Century, Critical Thinking, Logic, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind

Courses Taught
University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus

PHLD88: The Socrates Project (Fall 2018 and Winter 2019)
A seminar designed to teach advanced undergraduates the skills necessary for running tutorials for introductory philosophy classes, while at the same time giving them the opportunity to engage in advanced texts relating to those classes. The course culminates in a major research paper written under the supervision of a faculty member.

PHLB81: Theories of Mind (Fall 2016 and Winter 2018)
An introduction to some of the major questions and views in the philosophy of mind, including: what is the relationship between the mind and the body? What is consciousness? Is the mind just a really complex computer? Are non-human animal minds more like ours, or more like automata? In addition to readings in philosophy students will read some work from psychology and neuroscience, as well.

PHLC95: Topics in Philosophy of Mind: Knowing Minds (Fall 2017)
A topics course in the philosophy of mind focusing on how we know our own minds and the minds of others. Major questions addressed include: do we have special or privileged access to the contents of our own mind? Can we be wrong about what we’re thinking? How can I tell what you’re thinking? How can I tell whether you have a mind at all?

PHLC22: Topics in Theory of Knowledge (Fall 2016 and Fall 2018)
An advanced upper-level undergraduate course focusing on the topic of social epistemology. Some of the major questions and topics addressed in the class include: how can I know things just on the basis of you telling me something? What should I believe when you and I disagree? Who should I trust to as a source of knowledge? What happens to us epistemically when we’re not taken seriously because of biases that other people have?

PHLB20: Belief, Knowledge, and Truth (Winter 2017 and Fall 2017)
An introduction to some of the major questions and views in epistemology. Classic topics will include skepticism, theories of knowledge, theories of justification, and epistemic luck. The class also addresses more contemporary views in epistemology, including contextualism and pragmatic encroachment.

PHLB60: Introduction to Metaphysics (Winter 2017)
An introduction to some major questions in the history of metaphysics, including questions of free will, personal identity, and the nature of objects, both everyday and abstract.

Dalhousie University

PHIL3051/5051: Epistemology (Fall 2015)
A survey of some major topics in contemporary epistemology, including analyses of knowledge, theories of justification, virtue epistemology, contextualism, pragmatic encroachment, and social and feminist epistemology. This is a cross-listed graduate/undergraduate class.

PHIL1010X/Y: Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2015/Winter 2016, Fall 2014/Winter 2015)
An introduction to some of the major areas of philosophy, with emphasis on theories of the existence of god, bases of beliefs, ethics, and social and political philosophy. This is a “writing course” which also emphasizes the development of skills in writing philosophy.

PHIL4055/5055: The Value of Knowledge (Winter 2016, Fall 2014)
A cross-listed graduate and senior undergraduate seminar on the nature and value of knowledge. Questions covered include contemporary responses to the “Meno problem,” whether knowledge has a unique value, the “swamping problem,” and the value of other epistemic relationships like understanding and wisdom.

PHIL2090: How to Win an Argument (Winter 2016, Winter 2015)
An introduction to critical reasoning, with an emphasis on argument structure, decision theory, and basic modern symbolic logic. Students will also be exposed to issues in related issues in practical decision making, including implicit bias and ameliorative psychology.

PHIL2620: History of Philosophy: The Empiricists (Winter 2015)
A survey of some of the major empiricists, including Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.

University of Toronto, St. George Campus

PHL232: Knowledge and Reality (Spring 2013)
A survey course covering major topics in metaphysics and epistemology, including idealism, realism, possibility, skepticism about knowledge, Gettier cases and responses, foundationalism, coherentism, and contextualism.

PHL245: Modern Symbolic Logic (Spring/Summer 2011 and 2012)
An introduction to sentential and predicate logic. Topics included conditions for argument validity and soundness, translations from English into logical syntax, semantics for sentential and predicate logic, deductive proofs, proof theory, quantification theory, and finite models.

Teaching Assistant – Tutorial Leader

University of Toronto

  • PHL105 – Introduction to Philosophy – Fall 2010/Winter 2011 and Fall 2011/Winter 2012
  • PHL245 – Modern Symbolic Logic – Fall 2012 and Spring 2010

Athabasca University

  • PHIL152 – Basic Critical Thinking – 2007-2008
  • PHIL252 – Critical Thinking – 2007-2008

University of Alberta

  • PHIL101 – Theory and Value – Winter 2008
  • PHIL256 – Philosophy of Science – Winter 2007

Teaching Assistant – Grader

University of Toronto

  • PHL375 – Issues In Moral Philosophy – Fall 2013
  • PHL245 – Modern Symbolic Logic – Winter 2014, Winter 2013, Winter 2010, Summer 2009
  • PHL244 – Human Nature – Fall 2009
  • PHL346 – Philosophy of Mathematics – Winter 2009
  • PHL285 – Aesthetics – Fall 2008

University of Alberta

  • PHIL102 – Knowledge and Reality –Winter 2008, Fall 2007, Winter 2006
  • PHIL101 – Theory and Value – Winter 2008
  • PHIL375 – Science and Society – Fall 2007

Additional Teaching Experience

University of Alberta

  • Philosophy tutor for the Aboriginal Students Association – 2007 to 2008

Teacher Training and Credentials

Instructional Design Certificate – University of Maryland – September 2020-April 2021

  • A four course “mini masters” in instructional design, with a focus on developing new pedagogical techniques for teaching online classes.

Teaching Hub at the American Philosophical Association – January 2019

  • Presenting “Gettier and Metaphilosophy: Intuitions and Empirical Approaches in Epistemology” as part of the Teaching Hub’s groups session on novel approaches to teaching the Gettier problem.

More Feet on the Ground – August 2016

New Instructor Training – Fall 2014

  • A two-day seminar at Dalhousie University for new faculty members. Seminars included: Who are Dalhousie Students?; Teaching and Learning Innovations; Managing for Effective Student-Professor Relationships; Copyright Demystified; and Getting Started With Blackboard

Teaching Fundamentals Certificate – Winter 2013

  • Awarded by the University of Toronto Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation. I attended a series of seminars on a wide variety of topics pertaining to course management and instruction, including: Equity, Power and Diversity in the Classroom; Fostering Academic Integrity; Pedagogy 101; Identifying, Assisting and Referring the Student in Distress; and Elements of Effective Lesson Planning.

Martha Lile Love Teaching Award Runner-Up – Summer 2012

  • Runner-up for the department of philosophy’s annual teaching award, for PHL245: Modern Symbolic Logic. I was recognized for my strong evaluations from students and particularly high retention rate.

Teacher Training Session – Fall 2011

  •  A full-day seminar offered by the University of Toronto philosophy department, including topics on course preparation, lecture design, tools for facilitating discussion, and the use of technology in the classroom.

Tutorial Assistant Training Session – Fall 2009

  • A training session offered by the University of Toronto, designed to train new tutorial leaders. Topics included marking guidelines, techniques for generating discussion in tutorials, and the design of tutorial activities.

Athabasca University Teaching Conference – Winter 2008

  • Attended a weekend-long conference hosted by Athabasca University that emphasized strategies for dealing with the unique challenges of teaching part-time, distance-education, and continuing-educations students.

Tutorial Leader Training Session – Fall 2006

  • One initial session, followed by weekly meetings, offered by the University of Alberta philosophy department, designed to train new tutorial leaders. Topics included strategies for effective communication, tutorial activity design and marking strategies. One tutorial was attended and filmed by the course instructor in order to provide in-depth feedback.
Advertisement