Teaching

Courses Taught as Independent Instructor:

Tulane University

Consciousness (PHIL 3740)

Course Description: Nearly everyone feels as though they possess consciousness. Despite this common sentiment, it remains unclear what consciousness is. In this course, we will attempt to answer the question: what is consciousness? We will cover whether consciousness is a physical phenomenon, whether it is a single phenomenon, whether it can be studied scientifically, and whether it is real. Students will read a mix of classic and contemporary readings on consciousness from both philosophical and scientific perspectives.

Spring 2021 Syllabus

Language and Thought (PHIL 3800)

Course Description: Due to our cognitive and linguistic capacities, human beings can effectively deliberate and reason. However, everyone knows that humans often reason badly. In this course, we will investigate the good and bad of human reasoning. Our focus will be on three related issues. We will address (1) cases of good and bad reasoning, (2) the consequences of this reasoning, and (3) cognitive explanations and accounts for this reasoning. Topics will include (ir)rationality, fallacies, causal reasoning, reasoning about probability and statistics, and explanatory reasoning. Together, these topics will give us a better understanding of the cognitive basis of human reasoning, good and bad.

Spring 2021 Syllabus

Philosophy of Cognitive Science (PHIL 3750)

Course Description: In this course, we will analyze the mind and brain by integrating findings from several of the cognitive sciences, including philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. This course will cover historical and foundational questions of cognitive science as well as its applications to the study of language acquisition, perception, consciousness, and animal cognition. We will survey both primary and secondary sources, which cover both traditional works in the field as well as cutting edge research.

Fall 2020 Syllabus

Mississippi State University

Medical Ethics (PHI 3323)

Course Description: Ethical dilemmas in the practice of health care continue to proliferate and receive increasing attention from members of the health care profession, ethicists, policy makers, and the general public as health care consumers. In this course we will examine a number of ethical issues that arise in the context of contemporary medical practice and research by analyzing articles and decision scenarios. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to identify and analyze different philosophical approaches to selected issues in medical ethics; have gained insight into how to read and critically interpret philosophical arguments; and have developed skills that will enable them to think clearly about ethical questions as future or current health care providers, policy makers, and consumers.

Spring 2020 Syllabus

Fall 2019 Syllabus

University of Pittsburgh

Mind and Medicine (HPS 0612)

Course Description: This course is designed as an introduction to the philosophical issues that exist at the intersection of biology and medicine. Among others, we will examine the following questions: What is disease? Can one define disease and disorder purely objectively? Are psychiatric disorders real? How should scientists explain psychiatric disorders and other medical conditions? How do researchers study diseases? What is the relation between the causes of disease and their symptoms? The goal of this class is to provide students with a critical understanding of these philosophical issues. Previous knowledge of biology, neuroscience, or medicine is not needed for this class. Key notions and theories in these fields will be introduced progressively.

Fall 2015 Syllabus

Morality and Medicine (HPS 0613)

Course Description: Ethical dilemmas in the practice of health care continue to proliferate and receive increasing attention from members of the health care profession, ethicists, policy makers, and the general public as health care consumers. In this course we will examine a number of ethical issues that arise in the context of contemporary medical practice and research by analyzing articles and decision scenarios. Topics to be covered typically include the physician-patient relationship; informed consent; medical experimentation; termination of treatment; genetics; reproductive technologies, including cloning and stem cells; euthanasia; resource allocation; and health care reform. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to identify and analyze different philosophical approaches to selected issues in medical ethics; have gained insight into how to read and critically interpret philosophical arguments; and have developed skills that will enable them to think clearly about ethical questions as future or current health care providers, policy makers, and consumers.

Spring 2016 Syllabus

Fall 2018 Syllabus, Spring 2019 Syllabus available upon request

Courses Taught as Teaching Assistant:

Rutgers University

Spring 2012: Human Diversity (01:730:253)

University of Pittsburgh

Fall 2013: Nature of Emotions (HPS 0605)

Spring 2014: Mind and Medicine (HPS 0612)