I am an openly queer, disabled, non-traditionally religious philosopher from the Deep South. I make sure my students know and I ask them to use my pronouns, but I try—in accordance with my faith—to practice grace and forgiveness. My identities and teaching history inform my teaching expectations and practices. While I am particularly concerned with teaching students who traditionally feel marginalized, my job is to teach everyone. For me, the ‘teaching bullseye’ of teaching philosophy is sparking philosophical curiosity. It is my desire that students have a deep but wide understanding of philosophical perspectives, arguments, and figures, and that their understanding instills in them an intense curiosity for the world. This manifests itself in a variety of ways, from the “aha!” expression to desires to engage further with academic philosophy. It is to provoke, as J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “questions that need answering,” and to equip their natural curiosity with philosophical rigor.
For my efforts in teaching, I was awarded the 2019 Graduate Teaching Award by the University of Washington's philosophy department and the 2014 Vernon Teaching Award by the University of Arkansas' philosophy department. You can view my teaching philosophy here. You can read about my experiences teaching philosophy in prison here. Click here for my Teaching Portfolio.
The American Philosophical Association featured one of my syllabi, "The Rainbowed Divine: Diverse Voices in Philosophy of Religion," on their blog.
Below are the courses I’ve taught, along with some further information about my teaching experiences and pedagogy. Included in the PDF for each course, where available, are the syllabus and the course evaluation. In cases where I didn't design the course, I have excluded the syllabus. I have taught courses in philosophy of race, philosophy of gender, feminist philosophy, bioethics/medical ethics, ethical theory, applied ethics, existentialism, logic/practical reasoning, political philosophy, human nature, and the ethics of technology.
GRADUATE
For my efforts in teaching, I was awarded the 2019 Graduate Teaching Award by the University of Washington's philosophy department and the 2014 Vernon Teaching Award by the University of Arkansas' philosophy department. You can view my teaching philosophy here. You can read about my experiences teaching philosophy in prison here. Click here for my Teaching Portfolio.
The American Philosophical Association featured one of my syllabi, "The Rainbowed Divine: Diverse Voices in Philosophy of Religion," on their blog.
Below are the courses I’ve taught, along with some further information about my teaching experiences and pedagogy. Included in the PDF for each course, where available, are the syllabus and the course evaluation. In cases where I didn't design the course, I have excluded the syllabus. I have taught courses in philosophy of race, philosophy of gender, feminist philosophy, bioethics/medical ethics, ethical theory, applied ethics, existentialism, logic/practical reasoning, political philosophy, human nature, and the ethics of technology.
GRADUATE
- Philosophy of Race and Gender (Spring 2020)
- Graduate Seminar on the Ethics of Self-Defense (Fall 2019)
- Bioethics Amid a Pandemic (Fall 2020)
- Trolleys, Torture, and Terror (Summer 2019)
- Ethics of Harming and Killing (Fall 2014)
- Medical Ethics (Summer 2018, Spring 2017)
- Contemporary Ethical Problems (Fall 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015)
- Introduction to Ethics (Fall 2016)
- Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2020, Summer 2020, etc.)
- Existentialism and Film (Spring 2019)
- Practical Reasoning (Winter 2019)
- Human Nature (Spring 2015)