Teaching
2023-2024
I am teaching the following courses in 2023-2024. Course information will be on Moodle closer to the start of each term. All courses will be taught in person with the option of joining online via Teams.
Fall 2023:
Winter 2023:
Descriptions for PHIL 1611, PHIL 3250, and PHIL 3741 may be found in the academic calendar.
Here is the description for PHIL 3991B:
This course explores what non-ideal theory might be and what methodologies it might be associated with. What happens to our approach to ethics, epistemology, and social and political philosophy when we focus, not on how ideal practices, relationships, and institutions might function, but on specific, concrete, and historical situations? How might this change affect our conceptualization of justice, virtue, and the role of philosophy? In addition to readings about non-ideal theory itself, the course will examine work that explicitly or implicitly takes a non-ideal theory approach.
Fall 2023:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom.
- PHIL 3250F: 19th Century German Philosophy (first half of a 2-semester, 6 credit course).
Winter 2023:
- PHIL 3250W: 19th Century German Philosophy (second half of a 2-semester, 6 credit course)
- PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
- PHIL 3991B: Non-Ideal Theory
Descriptions for PHIL 1611, PHIL 3250, and PHIL 3741 may be found in the academic calendar.
Here is the description for PHIL 3991B:
This course explores what non-ideal theory might be and what methodologies it might be associated with. What happens to our approach to ethics, epistemology, and social and political philosophy when we focus, not on how ideal practices, relationships, and institutions might function, but on specific, concrete, and historical situations? How might this change affect our conceptualization of justice, virtue, and the role of philosophy? In addition to readings about non-ideal theory itself, the course will examine work that explicitly or implicitly takes a non-ideal theory approach.
Past courses
2022-2023
I taught the following courses, in hybrid-ish format (students had the option of joining via Teams):
Fall 2022:
Winter 2023:
Here is the description for PHIL 4111, which is generally "Topics in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy":
PHIL 4111: Relational Autonomy
This course explores the ways in which our agency and capacity to negotiate the world are shaped by our social and relational contexts. We will look at feminist philosophical writing on the concept of relational autonomy, and discuss the significance and implications of different ways of interpreting it. We will examine the merits, challenges, and risks of concepts of relational autonomy in the context of oppression and inequality. The course will draw connections to similar work being done in other areas, such as disability studies, and will also consider the question of the role of our relations to non-human others for our agency.
2021-2022
On sabbatical, no courses.
2020-2021
I taught the following courses in 2020-2021, all online. Course information was on Moodle.
Fall 2020:
Winter 2021:
Here is the description for PHIL 4111, which is generally "Topics in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy":
PHIL 4111: Philosophy of Hope and Anger
This course explores the meaning, use, and importance of hope and anger in our personal lives as well as in social and political movements. Using contemporary texts and texts from the history of philosophy, we will examine distinctions that can help us to reason more carefully about the role of hope and anger. How do we know when our hope or anger are justified? How do they help us respond to injustice? Can hope or anger risk leading us into false assumptions or conclusions? The course will also provide an exploration of the concept of non-ideal theory: what should our ethics require of us given existing inequities and histories of oppression?
2019-2020
I taught the following courses in 2019-2020:
Fall/Winter (two-semester yearlong course):
Fall 2019:
Winter 2020:
2018-2019
I taught the following courses in 2018-2019:
Fall 2018:
Winter 2019:
Here is the description for PHIL 4211, which is generally "Topics in Continental Philosophy":
PHIL 4211: Philosophy of Bodies
This course will explore the ways in which bodies have been included and excluded from Western philosophy. The course will cover issues such as: the perceived hierarchy between mind and body in the history of Western philosophy; the idea of normal vs. abnormal bodies; the connection between our bodies and their environment, including microorganisms; and food politics.
2017-2018
I taught the following courses in 2017-2018:
Fall 2017:
Winter 2018:
Here are the descriptions for PHIL 3991A and PHIL 3741:
PHIL 3991A: Kant's Practical Philosophy
This course explores the practical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, one of the most famous philosophers in the history of philosophy, and a figure with a profound influence on contemporary ethics and political theory. The course will examine Kant’s practical philosophy, ranging from his moral philosophy to his writings in areas such as politics, law, history, and anthropology. The course will provide students with an understanding of Kant’s attempts to create a universalist ethics based on rational apprehension of the moral law, while also situating his work within its larger historical context. (Format: Lecture 3 hours)
Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL; 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level excluding PHIL 2611; or permission of the Department
PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
This course is a philosophical introduction to the study of disability. Disability raises important philosophical questions which challenge our thinking and assumptions in a range of ways. Issues explored may include the following: social versus medical models of disability; definitions of impairment and disability, including how they have changed through history; disability as identity and how it interacts with other identities; the relationship between concepts of disability and concepts of well-being; disability and culture; and philosophy’s treatment of intellectual disability in the context of philosophy’s traditional valorization of reason. (Format: Lecture 3 hours)
Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level; or permission of the Department
2016-2017
I taught the following courses in 2016-2017:
Fall 2016:
Winter 2017:
PHIL 3991 and PHIL 4111 were special topics courses. Here are their descriptions:
PHIL 3991: Phenomenology and Existentialism
This course is an introduction to phenomenology and existentialism from the 19th century to contemporary work. Existentialism is a term that covers a range of philosophies concerned with themes of freedom, anxiety, responsibility, and how to live authentically. Phenomenology is a philosophical methodology aiming to describe and understand the complex layers of our experience, including how memory, history, and community shape our perceptions. This course will focus on 19th and 20th century authors such as Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Franz Fanon, but will also touch on more recent developments in existentialism and phenomenology.
PHIL 4111: Vulnerability and Embodiment
This course explores the ways in which we experience vulnerability and the ways in which our embodied vulnerability shapes our experience of the world. Vulnerability has been an increasingly discussed topic within philosophy and social and political theory more broadly. We will look at arguments that posit vulnerability as a shared and universal feature of human existence, rooted in our material bodies. On the other side, we will also look at arguments about and descriptions of the ways in which bodies marked by gender, race, and disability give rise to different forms of vulnerability. The course will explore the tension between universal and particular conceptions of vulnerability and the resulting ethical and political implications.
I taught the following courses, in hybrid-ish format (students had the option of joining via Teams):
Fall 2022:
- HLTH 1001: Health and Society
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom
Winter 2023:
- PHIL 2301: Introduction to Feminist Philosophy
- PHIL 3351: Phenomenology & Existentialism
- PHIL 4111: Relational Autonomy
Here is the description for PHIL 4111, which is generally "Topics in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy":
PHIL 4111: Relational Autonomy
This course explores the ways in which our agency and capacity to negotiate the world are shaped by our social and relational contexts. We will look at feminist philosophical writing on the concept of relational autonomy, and discuss the significance and implications of different ways of interpreting it. We will examine the merits, challenges, and risks of concepts of relational autonomy in the context of oppression and inequality. The course will draw connections to similar work being done in other areas, such as disability studies, and will also consider the question of the role of our relations to non-human others for our agency.
2021-2022
On sabbatical, no courses.
2020-2021
I taught the following courses in 2020-2021, all online. Course information was on Moodle.
Fall 2020:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom (draft syllabus for PHIL 1611 as of August 5, 2020 in PDF format [PHIL 1611 syllabus]; in Word format [PHIL 1611 syllabus]).
- PHIL 4111: Philosophy of Hope and Anger
Winter 2021:
- PHIL 2301: Introduction to Feminist Philosophy
- PHIL 3351: Phenomenology & Existentialism
- PHIL 3711: Biomedical Ethics
Here is the description for PHIL 4111, which is generally "Topics in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy":
PHIL 4111: Philosophy of Hope and Anger
This course explores the meaning, use, and importance of hope and anger in our personal lives as well as in social and political movements. Using contemporary texts and texts from the history of philosophy, we will examine distinctions that can help us to reason more carefully about the role of hope and anger. How do we know when our hope or anger are justified? How do they help us respond to injustice? Can hope or anger risk leading us into false assumptions or conclusions? The course will also provide an exploration of the concept of non-ideal theory: what should our ethics require of us given existing inequities and histories of oppression?
2019-2020
I taught the following courses in 2019-2020:
Fall/Winter (two-semester yearlong course):
- PHIL 3250: Nineteenth Century German Philosophy
Fall 2019:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom
- (Here are the instructions I used for Course Engagement in this course, in order to recognize a wide range of ways of participating and engaging with course material.)
Winter 2020:
- PHIL 2401: Introduction to Aesthetics
- PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
2018-2019
I taught the following courses in 2018-2019:
Fall 2018:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom
- PHIL 3351: Phenomenology & Existentialism
Winter 2019:
- PHIL 2301: Introduction to Feminist Philosophy
- PHIL 3711: Biomedical Ethics
- PHIL 4211: Philosophy of Bodies
Here is the description for PHIL 4211, which is generally "Topics in Continental Philosophy":
PHIL 4211: Philosophy of Bodies
This course will explore the ways in which bodies have been included and excluded from Western philosophy. The course will cover issues such as: the perceived hierarchy between mind and body in the history of Western philosophy; the idea of normal vs. abnormal bodies; the connection between our bodies and their environment, including microorganisms; and food politics.
2017-2018
I taught the following courses in 2017-2018:
Fall 2017:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom
- PHIL 3991A: Kant's Practical Philosophy
Winter 2018:
- PHIL 2401: Introduction to Aesthetics
- PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
Here are the descriptions for PHIL 3991A and PHIL 3741:
PHIL 3991A: Kant's Practical Philosophy
This course explores the practical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, one of the most famous philosophers in the history of philosophy, and a figure with a profound influence on contemporary ethics and political theory. The course will examine Kant’s practical philosophy, ranging from his moral philosophy to his writings in areas such as politics, law, history, and anthropology. The course will provide students with an understanding of Kant’s attempts to create a universalist ethics based on rational apprehension of the moral law, while also situating his work within its larger historical context. (Format: Lecture 3 hours)
Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL; 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level excluding PHIL 2611; or permission of the Department
PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
This course is a philosophical introduction to the study of disability. Disability raises important philosophical questions which challenge our thinking and assumptions in a range of ways. Issues explored may include the following: social versus medical models of disability; definitions of impairment and disability, including how they have changed through history; disability as identity and how it interacts with other identities; the relationship between concepts of disability and concepts of well-being; disability and culture; and philosophy’s treatment of intellectual disability in the context of philosophy’s traditional valorization of reason. (Format: Lecture 3 hours)
Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level; or permission of the Department
2016-2017
I taught the following courses in 2016-2017:
Fall 2016:
- PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom.
- PHIL 4111: Vulnerability and Embodiment.
Winter 2017:
- PHIL 2301: Feminist Philosophy
- PHIL 3991: Phenomenology and Existentialism.
PHIL 3991 and PHIL 4111 were special topics courses. Here are their descriptions:
PHIL 3991: Phenomenology and Existentialism
This course is an introduction to phenomenology and existentialism from the 19th century to contemporary work. Existentialism is a term that covers a range of philosophies concerned with themes of freedom, anxiety, responsibility, and how to live authentically. Phenomenology is a philosophical methodology aiming to describe and understand the complex layers of our experience, including how memory, history, and community shape our perceptions. This course will focus on 19th and 20th century authors such as Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Franz Fanon, but will also touch on more recent developments in existentialism and phenomenology.
PHIL 4111: Vulnerability and Embodiment
This course explores the ways in which we experience vulnerability and the ways in which our embodied vulnerability shapes our experience of the world. Vulnerability has been an increasingly discussed topic within philosophy and social and political theory more broadly. We will look at arguments that posit vulnerability as a shared and universal feature of human existence, rooted in our material bodies. On the other side, we will also look at arguments about and descriptions of the ways in which bodies marked by gender, race, and disability give rise to different forms of vulnerability. The course will explore the tension between universal and particular conceptions of vulnerability and the resulting ethical and political implications.