I'm a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Maryland in College Park. My primary research interests are in the philosophy of language and its intersections with linguistics and cognitive science. I ask what the notion of modularity has to do with the distinction between semantics and pragmatics; how we can test hypotheses about covert linguistic material; and, more generally, how a theory of linguistic meaning relates to the psychology underlying language use. With co-authors in the linguistics departments at UMD and the University of Illinois, I'm also investigating the moment-by-moment processing of anaphoric expressions using behavioral measures (reading times and visual world eyetracking).
Before coming to Maryland, I earned Bachelor's degrees in English and Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, followed by a Master's degree in Philosophy at Northern Illinois University.
areas of specialization
philosophy of language & philosophy of linguistics; philosophy of mind & philosophy of cognitive science
areas of competence
logic; ancient philosophy; general philosophy of science
publications
McCourt, M., Green, J.J., Lau, E., and Williams, A. (2015). Processing implicit control: evidence from reading times. Frontiers in Psychology 6:1629. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01629. pdf
Green, J.J., McCourt, M., Lau, E., & Williams, A. (2020). Processing adjunct control: Evidence on the use of structural information and prediction in reference resolution. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics, 5(1):112. doi: 10.5334/gjgl.1133 pdf
in progress or under review
Modularity and the semantics/pragmatics distinction (in progress)
Slurs and polysemy (in progress; co-authored with Chris Vogel)
'Said in many ways': Aristotle on polysemy versus homonymy (in progress)
courses instructed at UMD
PHIL310 - ancient philosophy - fall 2019
PHIL170 – introduction to logic – summer 2016 (online); fall 2018; spring 2019; spring 2021
PHIL318C – curses, swears, and slurs: the emotive dimension of language – summer 2018 (online)
PHIL309A – philosophy and neuroscience – winter 2017 (online)
PHIL360/LING350 – philosophy of language – fall 2016
PHIL412 – philosophy of Plato – fall 2020
PHIL418F – things we do with words: statements, lies, innuendo – fall 2020