Teaching
I teach in the Department of Philosophy at Gonzaga University. My courses range from reasoning and human nature to upper-division courses in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and logic.
Click a course title below to open its most recent syllabus (PDF), where one is available.
Current Courses (Summer 2026)
Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201)
An investigation into questions of what it means to be human, specifically considering free will, sociality, and embodiment.
Interactive Activities
- Philosophical Health Test — Check the consistency of your beliefs across all six modules
- Module 1 — Ship of Theseus Identity Explorer — Thought experiment on personal identity
- Module 2 — Cartesian Package Concept Mapper — Quiz and drag-and-drop on Descartes' four pillars
- Module 3 — Free Will Spectrum — Self-assessment across Hard Determinist → Compatibilist → Libertarian Free Will
- Module 4 — Social Mask Builder — Explore Goffman's dramaturgical model
- Module 5 — Emotion vs. Reason — Analyze moral scenarios with Socratic pushback
- Module 6 — Extended Mind Explorer — Branching Socratic dialogue on Clark & Chalmers
Courses Taught at Gonzaga
Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201)
Examines philosophical accounts of what it is to be human, drawing on metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics. Regularly offered, including summer sessions. Taught every year.
Reasoning (PHIL 101)
Core introductory course covering argument analysis, logic, and philosophical methodology. Regularly offered each semester, including community engaged learning (CEL) sections. Taught every semester.
Interactive Activities
- Argument Styles: The Framework — Background reading for the two activities below: eleven argument styles, where they show up across popular, semi-formal, and formal writing, and the sources behind them
- Argument-Style Diagnostic — Paste your own writing to discover your default argumentative temperament across eleven dimensions of style
- Argument-Style Duel — Choose between paired arguments (quick 11-round or full 22-round pilot) to surface the argument styles you find most convincing
Modeling Social Believers (PHIL 432)
Agent-based modeling approaches to social epistemology. Offered most fall semesters.
Philosophical Logic (PHIL 577)
Graduate-level course in formal logic, including propositional and predicate logic, with applications to philosophical argumentation. Offered periodically.
Symbolic Logic (PHIL 441)
An undergraduate introduction to symbolic logic — first-order logic, formal proofs, and metalogical results such as soundness, completeness, and Gödel's incompleteness theorems (some terms also taking up modal logic). Last taught Spring 2019.
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 448)
Surveys classical and contemporary debates about the nature of mind, consciousness, and cognition, with attention to extended and embodied cognition. Offered periodically.
Philosophy of Language (PHIL 411)
Examines the nature of meaning, reference, speech acts, and communication. Topics include Gricean pragmatics, distributed language, and the relationship between language and mind. Offered periodically.
Special Topics Courses
The Philosophy and Psychology of Encultured Minds (PHIL 491 / HONS 290)
An upper-division and honors seminar examining how culture shapes cognition, drawing on philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and social epistemology. Offered Spring 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Taught with Vinai Norasakkunkit
Language and Responsibility (PHIL 492)
A special topics seminar on the ethical and social dimensions of language use. Offered Fall 2018.