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Commonly Asked Questions​​​

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Who are you? I'm an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Moravian University and currently a Visiting Researcher at the University of Edinburgh. I work on topics in cognitive science, social philosophy, epistemology, and legal philosophy. My current project investigates how social prejudices shape patterns of nonverbal communication.​

 

Where did you come from? I received my PhD in Philosophy and Graduate Certificate in Cognitive Science from Rutgers University and my undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh. I was also a member of Chaz Firestone's lab in the Johns Hopkins Psychological and Brain Sciences Department, where I conducted the empirical work for my Graduate Certificate. I've previously held postdoctoral positions at the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) and the University of Oslo. (But, also, I come from Texas.)

 

What do you work on? Broadly, my research addresses social bias and discrimination through the interdisciplinary lenses of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, social theory, and law. My recent work examines the way social prejudices (sexism, racism, etc.) influence basic mental processes, including perception, attention, and nonverbal communication. I've explored the legal implications of this research as well, arguing that philosophically and empirically-grounded accounts of social bias can meaningfully inform policies aimed at reducing discrimination. Much of my philosophical work on law and public policy has focused on discrimination against queer and transgender people.

 

Do you do other things? When not philosophizing, I've been known to amble up the occasional mountain. Recently, I've become unreasonably invested in the location, observation, and documentation of various forms of volant (i.e., flying) wildlife: in other words, I've gotten super into birdwatching.​ I'm also very proud to have previously been the Team Captain of the Department of Philosophy's Magic the Gathering Team at the University of Oslo.​​