The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you've gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where is the one who has forgotten the words? He is the one I would like to talk to. - Chuang Tzu (philosopher, 4th Century BCE)
Biology doesn't have a periodic table for its species. Organisms flow across the bounds of any category we construct. In biology, nature abhors a category. Still, a robin is obviously different from a blue jay. Without names, how can we say whether it is a robin or a blue jay at the bird feeder? - Joan Roughgarden (evolutionary biologist, 2004)
My scholarship centers around the question of how we, as humans, construct meaningful categories: how these labels do and don't serve us, letting us make sense out of senselessness, connecting us with our identities and communities, enabling us to communicate and advocate, but also leading us astray, dividing us, and forestalling progress. I have investigated these questions from the perspectives of child development, linguistic relativity, neurodiversity, education policy, and others.
To this end, my academic path has been intentionally interdisciplinary. I completed my BA (honours) in Linguistics (University College London, with Robyn Carston); my MS and PhD in Cognitive Psychology/Cognitive Science (Rutgers University Center for Cognitive Science, with Karin Stromswold); and my Postdoctoral research in Literacy Education Policy (New York University, with Joseph McDonald). I currently teach in the Psychology departments at Columbia University and New York University, and collaborate on research, writing, and mentorship projects across institutions and departments.
I also incorporate perspectives from humanistic and artistic lines, for example, through my serious study of music and voice, through my writing about cognitive science in fiction, and through personal exploration and communal leadership in spaces dedicated to my own identities (Jewish, queer, neurodivergent). Both my teaching and research are deeply and genuinely informed by this interdisciplinary, personal, and continually evolving approach, and I prioritize asking questions and using methodology from a variety of perspectives and across levels of analysis.
Please reach out if you would like to collaborate.Â