I graduated with a Ph.D. in Spring of 2022. My primary area of research is in aesthetics and philosophy of art, but I also do research in global/comparative history of philosophy, applied ethics, and queer theory/trans philosophy. I especially love the areas where these things overlap!
Currently, I am Associate Professor of Philosophy at Lone Star College in Houston, TX. I am also the current President of the Rocky Mountain Division of the American Society for Aesthetics and the area editor for Popular Music on PhilPapers. In terms of my research, I am almost done writing an OER textbook on the global history of philosophy (page 714 out of 755 pages!). I am also coediting an Introduction to Aesthetics textbook alongside Elizabeth Scarbrough at Florida International University. My research lately has been focusing on the aesthetics, ethics, and metaphysics of genre, fashion, and popular music (especially country music). I also have been working in applied ethical questions related to art, artificial intelligence, and trans issues. Lastly, in the global history of philosophy, my attention has been focused primarily on Aztec philosophy and the work of the late 19th century British idealist Constance Naden, who I have a particular interest in.
A few classes really stand out to me from my time at Albany. One was a guided study on Scientific Revolutions that I did with Dr. Magnus. It was my first time working one-on-one with him, and he would eventually become my P.D. Advisor, so in addition to being very interesting, it represented the last step from being a student to being a candidate. P.D. was also, in my opinion, the best advisor I could have ever asked for, so it was a fantastic experience getting to have him as a mentor. Another was Dr. Zylberman's Metaethics seminar. Ariel found a way to make metaethics, a topic I didn't really have any interest in, really fun and engaging. The atmosphere was great, and he made us feel like colleagues and not like students. There was a constant excitement about what everyone was working on, and the paper I wrote there did really well when I presented it at conferences. Then there are some courses which have influenced me in other ways. For instance, TAing for Dr. Hessler's Morals and Society was another standout (though I was a teaching assistant and not taking it as a student), because she was such an excellent and engaging teacher. The way she modelled teaching using team-based learning fully converted me, so I was lucky to TA several sections of it and to get that experience. I also employ the two courses on college teaching I took outside the department every day. Finally, this may not be what you have in mind, but I would shout out Dr. Cohon's course on Contemporary Ethical Theory. It paired really well with Zylberman's Metaethics course and helped me succeed in it, but it also is where I met one of my best friends, so I am very grateful for that!
In my view, UAlbany was the perfect place for me to do a Ph.D. in philosophy. I came from an incredibly competitive M.A. program, and I found the comradery between the students to be a huge benefit. I know the toll that grad school can take on your mental health, and long-term success is so much more likely when you have a wonderful support network like I found there (among the students and the faculty). I think UAlbany was a great size where, if you are an ambitious student, you can get a fantastic amount of one-on-one mentorship. I never felt lost in the herd. I was so supported by the faculty and that made a huge difference for me. I also think UAlbany was the perfect place for me because it made it possible for me to work with my advisor, P.D. Magnus. I was probably especially demanding as a Ph.D. student, in terms of how much of his time I took up, and he was always willing to meet me there. He also taught me so much about publishing. He seems to have a preternatural sense of how to frame an idea so that reviewers see the value in it, and I still use these kinds of lessons he taught me, in terms of professionalization in the field, every day. He also modelled how to cultivate an eclectic and varied research program where you are free to pursue what you are most interested in, and I am so lucky that learned that it was okay to do that early on, because now I get to follow my philosophical passions wherever they go! P.D.'s pragmatic approach to philosophy of art (and to the philosophy of popular music in particular) informs my own research program, which I see as largely continuous with his own work. Finally, I came from the DIY hardcore scene in my younger punk days, and P.D. showed me that there was a way to keep that ethos alive within philosophy through OER. This has been a priority for me throughout my writing and teaching work, but also in my committee work at my institution.