I am currently (as of Summer 2025) teaching three courses at UCSD: Phil 100 Plato, Phil 101 Aristotle, and Phil 60 The Philosophy of Love and Sex. If you are a student for any of these courses, you can find more info by accessing the course Canvas.
Below you can find information on past courses that I have taught or TA'd for at UCSD.
As Instructor
Phil 100: Plato (UCSD Philosophy, Taught Summer & Fall 2022)
Course Overview: This course is devoted to Plato's philosophy and sets out to explore the contribution that pleasure, virtue, and knowledge make to a good life. We approach this topic by reading three dialogues in their entirety: the Gorgias, the Phaedrus, and the Philebus.
One of the enduring joys (and challenges) of reading Plato is engaging with the wide variety of subjects that are covered within a single dialogue. The result is that we will, despite mostly focusing on topics from Plato's ethics, also grapple with his views on metaphysics, epistemology, rhetoric, politics, and love. By exploring these topics and the interrelations between them, my hope is that you will come away from this course with a good appreciation of Plato's breadth and depth as a philosopher.
As Teaching Assistant
In the UCSD Philosophy Department
Logic:
Phil 10: Introduction to Logic (Instructor: Rick Grush, Spring 2024)
Phil 10: Introduction to Logic (Instructor: Rick Grush, Winter 2023)
History:
Phil 35: Philosophy in the Americas (Instructor: Patricia Marechal, Winter 2025)
Phil 31: Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (Instructor: Monte Johnson, Fall 2023)
Phil 31: Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (Instructor: Monte Johnson, Fall 2021)
Phil 35: Philosophy and the Rise of the Americas (Instructor: Clinton Tolley, Winter 2021)
Phil 31: Introduction to Ancient Philosophy (Instructor: Blythe Greene, Fall 2020)
Ethics:
Phil 28: Ethics & Society II (Instructor: Juan Carlos Gonzáles, Winter 2024. Topic: Identity, Gender, and Race)
Phil 13: Introduction to Ethics (Instructor: Emma Duncan, Spring 2023)
Phil 28: Ethics & Society II (Instructor: Saba Bazargan-Forward. Topic: Secession, Terrorism, War, Compensation, Summer 2018)
Phil 28: Ethics & Society II (Instructor: Saba Bazargan-Forward. Topic: Secession, Terrorism, War, Compensation, Spring 2018)
Phil 28: Ethics & Society II (Instructor: Gerald Doppelt. Topic: Abortion, Genetic Enhancement, Healthcare, Winter 2018)
Phil 28: Ethics & Society II (Instructor: Andy Lamey. Topic: Climate Change, Fall 2017)
Introduction to Philosophy:
Phil 1: Introduction to Philosophy (Instructor: Monte Johnson, Spring 2021)
In the UCSD Revelle Humanities Program:
Humanities 5: Modern Culture (Instructor: Geoff West, Spring 2025)
Humanities 2: Rome, Christianity, and the Middle Ages (Instructor: Michael Caldwell, Spring 2020)
Humanities 1: Foundations of Western Civilization: Israel and Greece (Instructor: Blythe Greene, Winter 2020)
Humanities 3: Renaissance, Reformation, and Early Modern Europe (Instructor: Janet Smarr, Fall 2019)
Humanities 2: Rome, Christianity, and the Middle Ages (Instructor: Kristina Markman, Spring 2019)
Humanities 1: Foundations of Western Civilization: Israel and Greece (Instructor: Stephen Cox, Winter 2019)
Resources
Below I have listed a few general resources that might be helpful for my current (or former & future!) students.
As an undergraduate, I found Jim Pryor's guide on how to write a philosophy paper to be extremely helpful. I still highly recommend it.
Philosophy is full of specialist jargon and lingo that you might be unfamiliar with. Don't panic! You can find useful guides and glossaries for the lingo here (by Danny Weltman) and here (by Jim Pryor).
Are you struggling to read and understand philosophy? This video guide by Jeffrey Kaplan might help!
ΣΩ. καὶ τὰ μέν γε ἄλλα οὐκ ἂν πάνυ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λόγου διισχυρισαίμην· ὅτι δ' οἰόμενοι δεῖν ζητεῖν ἃ μή τις οἶδεν βελτίους ἂν εἶμεν καὶ ἀνδρικώτεροι καὶ ἧττον ἀργοὶ ἢ εἰ οἰοίμεθα ἃ μὴ ἐπιστάμεθα μηδὲ δυνατὸν εἶναι εὑρεῖν μηδὲ δεῖν ζητεῖν, περὶ τούτου πάνυ ἂν διαμαχοίμην, εἰ οἷός τε εἴην, καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ.
ΜΕΝ. Καὶ τοῦτο μέν γε δοκεῖς μοι εὖ λέγειν, ὦ Σώκρατες.
ΣΩ. Βούλει οὖν, ἐπειδὴ ὁμονοοῦμεν ὅτι ζητητέον περὶ οὗ μή τις οἶδεν, ἐπιχειρήσωμεν κοινῇ ζητεῖν τί ποτ' ἐστὶν ἀρετή;
(Plato, Meno 86b6-c6)
Socrates: I do not insist that my argument is right in all other respects, but I would contend at all costs both in word and deed as far as I could that we will be better people, braver and less idle, if we believe that one must search for the things one does not know, rather than if we believe that it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not look for it.
Meno: In this too I think you are right, Socrates.
Socrates: Since we are of one mind that one should seek to find out what one does not know, shall we try to find out together what virtue is?
(Translation by Grube)