About Me
Here's the story.
I was recently appointed Miller Associate Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. I specialize in theoretical and applied ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of emotion. You can check out my work here and here. I’ve taught graduate seminars on attachment, trust, and hope. I regularly teach undergraduate courses in ethics and the philosophy of emotion, and I also have teaching interests in Asian philosophy and Nietzsche's moral psychology.
I began my academic career at the University of Michigan, where I graduated with bachelor's degrees in philosophy and psychology. After graduation, I accepted a job as an Academic Enrichment Specialist for Grand Rapids Public Schools, a large school district in west Michigan. In this position, I spent nearly a decade instructing students in grades 4-12 in math, logic, and language arts using a creative gaming format and preparing them for regional and national competition in academic games.
During my last two years with Grand Rapids Public Schools, I worked full time while completing a master’s degree in philosophy (with a concentration in ethics) at Western Michigan University. I went on to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy from UC Riverside, where I wrote my dissertation on emotional attachment under the direction of Agnieszka Jaworska.
After my doctoral work, I held a three-year position as the Harold T. Shapiro Postdoctoral Research Associate in Bioethics at the Princeton University Center for Human Values, followed by an appointment, in 2018, as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UC San Diego (where I was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2021). After a brief visiting appointment, I began my current position at Johns Hopkins University in 2024.
It has been a lovely journey, one that I could not have made without the support and guidance of many professors, mentors, colleagues, and friends who have been generous with their advice and insights. You know who you are. Thank you!