Research. I began graduate work in philosophy at Harvard University in fall 2018, after completing my BA in philosophy and BS in neuroscience at Saint Louis University. My research aims to understand how broader socio-political forces shape our emotional lives, and how we, as individuals, might intervene upon our emotions when such shaping proves unwelcome or otherwise harmful. I am centrally concerned with two main questions, which address themes of emotional formation and transformation: How do the socio-political environments we inhabit make a difference to our individual emotional lives? And, how might individuals transform their emotions to align with values of the broader world we wish to build?

My dissertation considers these questions across three papers, examining how the socio-political world around us can impact how our emotions are acted upon, generated, and appraised. “Emotional Contingency and Ideological Curation,” is published in Passion: The Journal of the European Society for the Study of Emotions, while the other two chapters will be submitted for publication shortly. A short commentary entitled “The Problem of Culturally Normal Emotion and Notes on Genealogy,” is also forthcoming in Analyzing Ideology (eds. Robin Celikates and Sally Haslanger).

Methodologically, within philosophy, my work draws from philosophy of emotion, philosophy of mind, social epistemology, critical theory, and feminist philosophy; more broadly, I aim to incorporate as much insight as possible from cognitive science, psychology, social movement theory, literature/film, and on-the-ground politics & organizing as I can within it. I am extremely grateful to have Susanna Siegel, Selim Berker, Dick Moran, and Quinn White as members of my dissertation committee, and the support and mentorship of the Emotion & Society Lab, of which I was a past graduate fellow.

Teaching. I began teaching in fall 2020, and have since taught as the head instructor of several courses: Stereotypes and Attitudes: The Science of First Impressions, The Philosophy of Psychology, Existentialism, Emotions and Emancipatory Struggle, Feminist Epistemology, and The Second Sex. I have additionally served as a Teaching Fellow (TF) for four courses in the philosophy department — Existentialism in Literature and Film w/ Prof. Sean Kelly, Happiness w/ Prof. Susanna Rinard, Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason w/ Prof. Samantha Matherne, and Philosophy of Mind w/ Prof. Cheryl Chen. Prior to beginning teaching at Harvard, I worked for three years as a Writing Consultant at Saint Louis University Writing Services. Last year, I served as the Department Writing Fellow, assisting philosophy students with their writing.

Service. I currently serve as President of the Harvard Graduate Student Union (HGSU-UAW Local 5118), where I focus on bargaining improvements on issues of harassment, discrimination, bullying, and retaliation for our unit of 5,500 graduate and undergraduate workers. Within my department, I helped restart our department’s MAP (Minorities and Philosophy) chapter and served as an Organizational Committee member for 3 years, alongside other climate and social initiatives. I also proudly served as graduate director of PIKSI-Boston for two years, and currently am a member of its Steering Committee.

You can download my full CV here.