As a doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy at Western University, I have worked as both a teaching assistant and an instructor. At the start of my degree, I was guaranteed two teaching assistantships per academic year.
In 2025, I was awarded a Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral (CGS-D) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Under a rule set by my graduate faculty, I am now permitted to work as a teaching assistant for only one term each academic year. Beyond this, I may take on additional work outside my funding package, including instructor positions.
I have successfully obtained such positions beyond those required by my graduate program and am recognised as a leader in education in the broader Western University community. In addition to my teaching assistantships, I have taught a second-year undergraduate course on artificial intelligence, co-taught an undergraduate course, and served as the sole instructor and “subject matter expert” for a graduate training course. I have additionally given guest lectures in undergraduate and graduate courses.
PHILOSOPHY 2041 "Artificial Intelligence: Past & Present"
I am currently the instructor for Philosophy 2041 “Artificial Intelligence: Past & Present.” This newly introduced course is in the Department of Philosophy at Western University. I proposed this course alongside two others as part of an initiative to design an undergraduate major that bridges philosophy and humanities with artificial intelligence. The aim is to prepare graduates to lead in an increasingly technology-driven world by using a humanities-first philosophy.
PHILOSOPHY 3410 “Advanced Philosophy of Mind”
During the Winter 2026 term, I was a co-instructor for Philosophy 3410 “Advanced Philosophy of Mind” alongside Dr. Christopher Viger. I taught five weeks of the course. Beyond the lecture component, my responsibilities included designing the syllabus, creating assignments and exams, grading, holding office hours, scheduling additional meetings with students, and proctoring.
The position was offered as a Mentorship in University Teaching (MiUT) an opportunity unique to the Department of Philosophy at Western University. While the Department of Philosophy is typically unable to offer sole instructor positions to its graduate students, the department offers the MiUT as a way to help graduate students pursuing teaching and tenure-track positions receive experience and training in undergraduate teaching.
Own Your Future’s “Harnessing GenAI in Research”
I am presently the instructor or “subject matter expert” for an asynchronous graduate training course hosted by the Own Your Future doctoral training program and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Western University titled “Harnessing GenAI in Research.” My responsibilities included course design, delivery, and assessment creation.
The course is designed to complement Western University’s “Provisional Guidance for the use of Generative AI in Graduate Studies. The course is broken down into five modules. Each module aims to build AI literacy and offer conceptual tools for maintaining agency in a world that is increasingly reshaped by novel AI systems. Throughout the course, students find “reflection questions” and “reflection activities” that allow them to deepen their understanding of course content. The course culminates with the creation of a personal statement on the use of GenAI in graduate studies.
As a doctoral student in the Department of Philosophy at Western University, I am offered a teaching assistantship as part of my funding package. In my past teaching assistantships, I was responsible for being present during and after lecture for student questions, grading assignments, holding office hours, setting up additional meetings with students, answering student emails, proctoring exams, designing course assignments and exams questions, and in select courses, running mid-term and exam review sessions (PHIL*1230B) and contributing to syllabus design (PHIL*3420). I was a graduate teaching assistant for the following courses:
PHILOSOP*2715 “Health Care Ethics” (Fall 2023) with Charles Weijer
PHILOSOP*1230B “Reasoning & Critical Thinking” (Winter 2024) with Angela Mendelovici
PHILOSOP*2400 “Introduction to Philosophy of Mind” (Fall 2024) with David Bourget
PHILOSOP*3420 “Philosophy of Psychology” (Winter 2025) with Christopher Viger
Harnessing GenAI in Research Workshop & Training Course
In the summer of 2024, I was hired by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to design a workshop on the responsible use of generative AI. The workshop was run in collaboration with SGPS and the Own Your Future doctoral training program. After the workshop's success, SGPS gave me an additional contract to develop it into an asynchronous training course.
Undergraduate Major in Humanities and Artificial Intelligence
In summer 2025, the Arts & Humanities Dean’s Office hired me to research and design an undergraduate programme in Humanities and Artificial Intelligence. In the autumn of 2025, we hosted a retreat alongside the Centre for Teaching and Learning to consult with departments across Arts and Humanities. Following these recommendations, we compiled a list of existing and future courses for the major. Thus far, three courses have been proposed and introduced in the Department of Philosophy, with other departments following in our footsteps. The work is intended to continue, depending on course popularity and further consultation with an established steering committee. A brief essay on the importance of programmes like this is on my personal blog here.
Philosophy of AI Course Proposals
In the winter of 2026, I was hired by the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Western University, to research and propose courses to be hosted in the Department of Philosophy as pilot courses for a potential major in “Humanities and Artificial Intelligence” (described above). The courses respond to a recognized need among faculty to prepare humanities graduates to be skillful and indispensable collaborators in an increasingly tech-driven workforce upon graduation. Second, they centre Philosophy as one of many humanities disciplines uniquely equipped to address the promises and perils of “artificial intelligence.” Each course proposal had the following rationale.
“We are living through a time of profound technological uncertainty, and it is increasingly clear that the challenges posed by artificial intelligence cannot be addressed without the arts and humanities. Philosophy has emerged as one domain uniquely equipped to address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. The Department of Philosophy has numerous faculty members working at the intersection of philosophy and artificial intelligence spanning feminist philosophy, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. To leverage these existing capacities, we propose the introduction of several 2000-level courses on distinct topics of immediate and long-term importance to understanding an unpredictable and rapidly evolving reality.”
Three courses were proposed and later approved by Senate on June 24, 2026. The courses are described below and are informed by extensive research and discussion with various faculty members in and outside philosophy, including but not limited to an established steering committee.
PHILOSOPHY 2039A/B: Living Well in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Course Description: What does it mean to live well in an age of rapid technological change? This course investigates the relationship between well-being and emerging technologies. Through engagement with historically important philosophical theories of well-being, students will assess the promises and dangers that new technologies present for living well.
PHILOSOPHY 2041A/B: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: PAST AND PRESENT
Course Description: This course traces the evolution of artificial intelligence from early symbolic systems through to modern generative AI and agentic AI systems. From the perspective of contemporary philosophy of AI, students examine the ideas, values, and motivations that have shaped AI's development and continue to influence its trajectory.
PHIL 2043F/G: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OUR FUTURE
Course Description: This course examines AI’s impact on our capacity to create positive futures. Through philosophical exploration of AI's ethical and epistemic dimensions, students examine contemporary systems such as algorithmic decision-making, agentic AI, and consumer-facing technologies. The course asks whether these systems ultimately help or hinder our efforts to build humane futures.
“Thinking About Android Epistemology”
I was invited to give a guest lecture on November 24th, 2025, for Dr. Ruth Skinner’s course “Digital Tools, Digital Literacies” (SASAH 2230F/G) offered by the School of Advanced Study in the Arts & Humanities. The course was structured around a series of guest lectures to help students complete an applied digital humanities project. I was invited to offer an “AI-optimist approach” as Dr Skinner noticed her students were strongly against AI; moreover, to offer a humanities-centred, yet optimistic evaluation of AI. The session included an assigned reading, lecture, group discussion/active learning component, and summary.
“Agency & Responsibility in Research w/ GenAI”
I was invited to give a guest lecture on March 5th, 2026, for Dr Ken Yeung and Dr Cortney Hana Benson's graduate seminar SCIENCE 9424 “, Students as Partners in the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Science” at, Western University. The lecture extended the “Harnessing GenAI in Research Module” and my doctoral research. The session included an assigned reading, a lecture, a group discussion/active learning component, and a summary.
To continue my development as an educator, I am currently completing Western University’s Centre for Teaching and Learning Certificate in Undergraduate Teaching and Learning. Thus far, I have attended several Future Prof Workshops and expect to complete the program by December 2026. Independent of the certificate, I have facilitated/presented at several “Future Prof Workshops.”
Beyond pursuing professional development opportunities at my institution, I have been using the free courses and resources offered by the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary. This resource has had a monumental impact on how I approach my practice and on the presentation of this dossier.