Russell Marcus
Curriculum Vitae (click for pdf version)

Christian A. Johnson Professor of Teaching Excellence
Department of Philosophy, Hamilton College
198 College Hill Road
Clinton NY 13323
(315) 859-4056 (office)
email: rmarcus1@hamilton.edu
websites: thatmarcusfamily.org/philosophy; Hamilton profile

• Philosophy of Mathematics
• Philosophical Pedagogy

• Logic, Advanced Logic, Set Theory
• Modern Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Mind
• Epistemology
• Metaphysics
• Business Ethics, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy

Education

• Ph. D., The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, February 2007
  Dissertation: Numbers without Science
  Adviser: David Rosenthal
  
  
• B.A., Swarthmore College, 1988
  Major in philosophy. Concentrations in education and mathematics.

Full-Time Academic Appointments (see below for other teaching experience):

• Professor, Hamilton College, July 2022–Present
  • Christian A. Johnson Professor of Teaching Excellence, July 2024–Present
  • Department Chair, January 2020–June 2025
• Associate Professor, Hamilton College, July 2016–June 2022
• Assistant Professor, Hamilton College, July 2010–June 2016
  
• Chauncey Truax Post-Doctoral Fellow, Hamilton College, 2007–2010
  

Publications

Books

• Team-Based Learning for the Philosophy Classroom: A Guide, forthcoming from Bloomsbury
• Introduction to Formal Logic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, February 2018. (An abridged and gently reorganized version of IFLPA)
• Introduction to Formal Logic with Philosophical Applications, Oxford: Oxford University Press, November 2017.
• An Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Mathematics, a reader and text, co-edited with Mark McEvoy, Hostra University, Bloomsbury Press, February 2016.
• Autonomy Platonism and the Indispensability Argument, Lexington Books, 2015.

Essays

• “A Contemporary Connections Option for Early Modern Syllabus Diversification,” with Ashley Scheichet. Forthcoming in Teaching Philosophy
• “The Playful Spirit of Team-Based Learning.” Forthcoming in AAPT Studies in Philosophy.
• “Whose Argument is it Anyway: Integrating Improv Games into the Philosophy Classroom,” with Nathalie Martinez and Ashley Pryor, in Innovations in Teaching Philosophy: A Toolkit for the 21st Century Classroom, edited by Brynn Welch, Bloomsbury, 2026.
• “Microwriting for Better Learning and Happier Teaching,” AAPT Studies in Pedagogy 9 (2024): 108-127.
• “A Jigsaw Lesson for Symbolic Logic,” in The Art of Teaching Philosophy: Reflective Values and Concrete Practices, edited by Brynn Welch, London: Bloomsbury, 2024, pp 235–43.
• “When Conversation Goes Wrong: Managing Student Errors,” with Alessandro Moscarítolo Palacio, in The Art of Teaching Philosophy: Reflective Values and Concrete Practices, edited by Brynn Welch, London: Bloomsbury, 2024, pp 129–38.
• “Summer Experiments in Pedagogical Innovation,” with Catherine Schmitt, APA Studies on Teaching Philosophy 23.1: 2–6, Fall 2023.
• “Scaffolding for Fine Philosophical Skills.” AAPT Studies in Pedagogy 5: From Research to Learning. DOI: 10.5840/aaptstudies201912642
• “Philosophical Method.” The Philosophers Magazine 85 (2019): 62–67. DOI: 10.5840/tpm20198540
• “Teaching as a Humanism,” in Philosophers in the Classroom: Essays on Teaching, edited by Steven Cahn, Alexandra Bradner, and Andrew Mills, Indianapolis: Hackett, 2018.
• “The Eleatic and the Indispensabilist,” Theoria 30.3 (2015): 415-430.
• “The Holistic Presumptions of the Indispensability Argument” Synthese 191.15, October 2014. Published online: 23 May 2014; doi: 10.1007/s11229-014-0481-7.
• “How Not to Enhance the Indispensability Argument,” Philosophia Mathematica. Published online: March 24, 2014; doi: 10.1093/philmat/nku004.
• “On Reading the History of Philosophy: Comments on David Concepción’s ‘Reading Philosophy with Background Knowledge and Metacognition’,”in Recognizing Teaching Excellence: The Lenssen Prize, edited by Emily Esch, Kevin Hermberg, and Rory Kraft, published by the American Association of Philosophy Teachers in cooperation with the Philosophy Documentation Center, 2014.
• “Intrinsic Explanation and Field’s Dispensabilist Strategy,” International Journal of Philosophical Studies 21.2: 163-183, May 2013.
• Entries on Alonzo Church, David Hilbert, Leopold Löwenheim, Model Theory, Semantic Trees, Thoraf Skolem, Syntax, and Variable; in Key Terms in Logic, Jon Williamson and Federica Russo, editors, Continuum Publishers, November 2010.
• “Indispensability Arguments in the Philosophy of Mathematics,” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, First Posted: October 18, 2010.
• “A Cooperative-Learning Lesson Using the Objections and Replies,” The APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 9.2, Spring 2010: 5-9.
• “Observations on Cooperative-Learning Group Assignments,” The APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 9.2, Spring 2010: 2-5.
• “David Hilbert,” The Reasoner 3.3, March 2009.
• “Structuralism, Indispensability, and the Access Problem,” Facta Philosophica 9, 2007: 203-211.
• “Cooperative Learning on the First Day of Class,” The APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy, Spring 1998

Reviews

• Review of Philosophy Camps for Youth: Everything You Wanted to Know about Starting, Organizing, and Running a Philosophy Camp, edited by Claire Katz, Teaching Philosophy 44:4, December 2021: 561–564.
• Review of John Fennell, A Critical Introduction to the Philosophy of Language: Central Themes from Locke to Wittgenstein. In Teaching Philosophy 42:4, December 2019: 417–21.
  
• Review of Kevin J. Harrelson, The Ontological Argument from Descartes to Hegel, The APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 10.1, Fall 2010: 11-13.

Presentations and Comments

• "Learning Moments”
  • American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, July 2026, Eastern Michigan University
  • AAPT Talking/Teaching Series, April 28, 2026
  • Harper College, March 13, 2026
  • New Mexico State University, February 20, 2026
• “Telling Our Story,” with Gabrielle Brihn, Sarah Donovan, Jane Drexler, and Ashylia Sloane. Forthcoming, American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, July 2026, Eastern Michigan University
• “Past Presidents Panel,” with Daryl Close, David W. Concepción, Emily Esch, Andrew Mills, and Jennifer Wilson Mulnix. Forthcoming, American Association of Philosophy Teachers' Workshop Conference, July 2026, Eastern Michigan University
  
• “Introduction to Team-Based Learning”
  • University of Cincinnati, May 7, 2026
  • Harper College, March 13, 2026
• “Free Speech and the Philosophy Classroom”
  • Harper College, March 12, 2026
  • Invited contribution to panel, “Issues in Faculty Speech: What Can Philosophy Contribute?" 2025 APA Eastern Division Meeting, January 11, 2025
• “Thin Mathematical Intuition and Mathematical Epistemology.” College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, March 9, 2026
• “Quantitative and Narrative Approaches to Philosophy SoTL.” The Teaching Hub at the APA Eastern Division Meeting, January 9, 2026.
• “Writing Instruction in the Age of AI.” Workshop for Curriculum Managers at the International Baccalaureate Organization, The Hague. October 20, 2025
• “Team-Based Learning for First-Year Courses.” First-Year Course Workshop, Hamilton College, April 21, 2025.
• “Festive Learning: Collaboration, Conversation, and Engagement; or, Two Dogmas of Philosophy Education.” APA Central Division Meeting, February 21, 2025
• “Whose Argument is it Anyway: Integrating Improv Games into the Philosophy Classroom,” with Nathalie Martinez and Ashley Pryor. The Teaching Hub at the 2025 APA Eastern Division Meeting, January 10, 2025.
• “TBL and Deliberation.” Invited talk, National University of Singapure (NUS), August 27, 2024.
• “Collaboration and Serious Engagement in the Philosophy Classroom.” Presidential Address to the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, AAPT Workshop-Conference, July 28, 2024.
• “Writing with AI.” AAPT Talking/Teaching Series, October 2, 2023.
• “Significant Activities in Philosophy TBL.” Acceped for the Team-Based Learning Cooperative Conference, March 2023; withdrawn
• “A Philosophical Account of Mathematics that Won’t Make You Hate Philosophers.” Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM), January 6, 2023
• “Managing Student Errors,” with Alessandro Moscarítolo Palacio. American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, July 30, 2022.
• “Balancing Preparation and Flexibility.” Plenary Panel for AAPT/APA/TPA Teaching Prize Winners, American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, July 29, 2022.
• “Collaborative Learning Activity Design.” Invited talk for St. Lawrence University Philosophy Department, April 6, 2022.
• “Active Learning and Classroom Spaces.” Hamilton Academy, March 29, 2022.
• “Individual and Collaborative Activities in Philosophy Classrooms.” AAPT Talking Teaching Series, October 25, 2021.
• “Syllabus Design.” APA Webinar, August 11, 2021.
• “Three Concepts of Philosophy Teaching,” with Alexandra Bradner, Jane Drexler, and Andrew Mills. American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, July 28, 2021.
• “The Philosopher as Listener: Asking Better Questions in Class.” American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, June 23, 2021.
• “TBL as Play.” Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation (LACOL) 2021: Play and Innovation, June 21, 2021.
• “Teaching Blended Seminars.” Hamilton Academy, January 27, 2021.
• “Teaching Large, Synchronous, Fully-Remote Classes.” Hamilton Academy, January 26, 2021.
• “Facilitating Productive Philosophical Conversation in Pandemic Pedagogy and Beyond,” NY6 facilitated discussion, July 30, 2020
• “Course Structure in Pandemic Pedagogy,” Hamilton College Pandemic Pedagogy Series, July 1, 2020
• “Teaching Transferable Skills,” APA Talking Teaching series, May 10, 2019
• “Embracing the Cartesian Circle”
  • Hofstra University, April 3, 2019
  • Hamilton College, February 16, 2010
• “Teaching Thematic Introductory Courses,” 2018 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, North Carolina A&T, July 29, 2018
• “Lessons from Five Embarrassing Teaching Moments,” 2018 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, North Carolina A&T, July 28, 2018
  
• “In Opposition to the Thesis-Driven Essay,” 2018 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, North Carolina A&T, July 27, 2018
  
• “Logic and Philosophy”
  
  • The Teaching Hub at the 2018 APA Pacific Division Meeting, March 29, 2018
  • 2010 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, Coastal Carolina University, August 2, 2010
• “Team-Based Learning, Or: How I Shut Up So My Students Could Learn, Or: Cooperative Learning for the Control Freak Teacher,” Hamilton College, February 22, 2017; Follow-Up Meeting, March 6, 2017
  
• “Small-Group, Specific-Choice Activities,” 2016 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, Saginaw Valley State University, July 29, 2016
• “How to Get Students to Speak Up!” Hamilton College Faculty Development Lunch, November 9, 2017
• “Talking in Circles: On Justification and the Logic of Philosophy,” Hamilton College Brown Bag Series, February 6, 2015
• “Autonomy Platonism and the Circularity Objection,” Jerrold Katz Memorial Lecture, CUNY, February 4, 2015
• “The Holistic Presumptions of the Indispensability Argument,” Albritton Society, UCLA, February 15, 2013
• “How to Sit at the Back of the Class,” 2012 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, St. Edward's University, July 27, 2012
• “Critical Assessment of the Scientific Method: Experience, Intuition, and Justification”
  • Sigma Xi Series, Hamilton College, February 3, 2012
  • Seminar Series on Engineering, Neuroscience & Health at the University of Southern California, March 19, 2012
• “The Bully, the Solipsist, and the Sponge: Three Types of Philosophy Students and the Challenges They Raise,” Session of American Association of Philosophy Teachers, Central Division APA Meetings, Chicago, February 16, 2012
• “Three In-Class Logic Problems (and Their Solutions): Disparate Student Abilities, Excessive Homework Grading, and the Underemphasized Connection Between Logic and Philosophy,” Session of American Association of Philosophy Teachers, Central Division APA Meetings, Chicago, February 16, 2012
• “A Jigsaw Lesson for First-Order Logic Translations Using Identity,” 2010 American Association of Philosophy Teachers’ Workshop Conference, Coastal Carolina University, August 1, 2010
  
• “The Explanatory Indispensability Argument”
  • APA Eastern Division Meeting, Main Program, December 2010
  • 3rd Cambridge Graduate Conference on the Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics, January 17, 2010
  • First Colombian Conference in Logic, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science, November 6, 2009
• “Adjudicating the Objections and Replies: A Cooperative Lesson Using the Objections and Replies to Descartes’s Meditations,” The American Association of Philosophy Teachers' Workshop-Conference, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, August 2008
• “Intrinsic Explanation and Field's Dispensabilist Strategy”
  • The Tilburg-Sydney Conference on Reduction and the Special Sciences, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, April 10, 2008
  • APA Eastern Division Meeting, Main Program, December 29, 2007
• “Structuralism, Indispensability, and the Access Problem,” The New Jersey Regional Philosophical Association, March 24, 2007
• “Why the Indispensability Argument Does Not Justify Beliefs in Mathematical Objects”
  • The College of Wooster, April 9, 2007
  • Hamilton College, April 3, 2007
  • Wabash College, March 22, 2007
  • University of British Columbia Student Philosophy Conference, April 2006
  • Rocky Mountain Student Philosophy Conference, March 2006
• “Formalities,” CUNY Graduate Student Colloquium Series, Spring 2005
• “Three Grades of Instrumentalism”
  • Thoughts, Words, Objects: UT Austin Graduate Philosophy Conference, April 2006
  • CUNY Graduate Conference, Spring 2005
• Comments on Eric Swanson's, “A Friendly Amendment to the Standard Analysis of Supposition,” CUNY Graduate Conference, Spring 2003
• “Reductionism, Benacerraf, and Numbers,” CUNY Graduate Conference, Spring 1999
• “Boundarylessness,” CUNY Graduate Student Colloquium Series, Spring 1996

Media Appearances

• Interview on Tea for Teaching podcast, September 10, 2025
• “A Summer Camp Where Professors Are the Focus." Chronicle of Higher Education article focusing on the HCSPiP, July 21, 2025
• “Using Games to Teach Philosophy”
  • Appearance on YouTube video on the Game for Thought channel with host Jonas Faria Costa
• “Playful Classes”
  • YouTube interview on the Game for Thought channel with host Jonas Faria Costa
• Interview on Engaged Philosophy, February 25, 2019
  
  

Public Philosophy

• "Why Study Philosophy"
  • Hamilton College Alumni presentation, March 25, 2026
    
• “Free Speech and the Philosophy Classroom: The Wrong Question”
  
  • Blog of the APA, May 23, 2025
• “Infinity and Me”
  • Website of Dr Gindi, Sculptor
• “What Do Experiments in Philosophy Teaching Look Like?” with Catherine Schmitt
  • Daily Nous, February 1, 2023.
    
• “Syllabus Design: Infinity as Introduction to Philosophy”
  • Blog of the APA, August 17, 2022
• “Singing, Praying, and the Winter Concert”
  • Lunch and Learn Series, Temple Emanu-El, Utica, March 9, 2019
• “Teaching, Philosophy, and Tikkun Olam”
  • Hamilton College “Why I Teach” Series, October 17, 2017
• “Mathematics and Its Grounds”
  • The Emerson Literary Society of Hamilton College, April 2, 2015
• “Hannah Arendt: Feminist Hero or Overintellectualizing Academic?”
  • Discussion of Hannah Arendt Film, The Jewish Community Center, Utica, NY, February 18, 2015
• “God or Reason? Case Studies in Jewish and Secular Ethics”
  • Waldman Lecture, Temples Emanu-El and Beth El, Utica
  • Including Bonus Workshop: Looking Forward, Backward, and Inward: Three Approaches to the Good, May 16, 2010.
• “On Jokes; and Some Observations about Asymmetries in Power and about Being a Jew in America”
  • Hamilton College Think Tank, September 26, 2008
• “Berkeley's Reductionism and the Explanation of Taste Differences: How Can Pigs Eat Feces?”
  • Hamilton College Think Tank, February 1, 2008
• “The Relevance of Geometry to Philosophy”
  • Seminar in Modern Geometries, Hamilton College, December 3-5, 2007
• “Randomness”
  • Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers Meeting, Hamilton College, December 3, 2007

Honors and Awards

• Hamilton College Grant Activity Fund, 2025–26
• The Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching, American Philosophical Association, 2020
• Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award, Hamilton College, May 2016
• Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Award, Hamilton College, May 2016
• The John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award, Hamilton College, May 2011
• Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Queens College, CUNY, Fall 1999 to Spring 2000
• Graduate Teaching Fellowship, College of Staten Island, CUNY, Fall 1995 to Spring 1997
• Graduate Fellowship, CUNY, Fall 1993 to Spring 1995

Grants

• Levitt Faculty Innovation Grant, Hamilton College Summer 2026, $20K
• Faculty Teacher-Scholar Award, Hamilton College, for “Why Teach Philosophy, Summer 2026, $10K
• American Philosophical Association (APA) Small Grant, “Communicating the Value of Teaching Philosophy In and Beyond the Discipline,” with Sarah Donovan (Wagner); Jane Drexler (Salt Lake City Community College); and Alexandra Bradner (Kenyon), Fall 2025, $5K
• Central New York Humanities Corridor Writing Retreat, July 25–27, 2025
  
• Hamilton College Team-Based Learning Pedagogy in Practice Group, PI, Spring 2025
• Gertrude F. Bristol Fellowship, Hamilton College, for research, 2025–26
• HCSPiP Summer Research Grant, with Catherine Schmitt ‘24, Christina Stoll ‘25, and Marianne Janack, Summer 2023
  
• American Philosophical Association (APA) Small Grant, “Pedagogy Resident at the Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy,” with Mercedes Corredor, Fall 2022
• American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) Grant for Innovation in Teaching, “Summer Program Inclusivity Consultant,” with Catherine Schmitt, Fall 2022
• Central New York Humanities Corridor Writing Retreat, October 7–9, 2022
• Christian A. Johnson Teaching Enhancement Award, Hamilton College, 2018–19
• Emerson Foundation Grant for Summer Research
  • with Jesse Wexler, Hamilton ‘24, “A Philosophical Investigation into Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics of Hate Speech,” Summer 2022
  • with Ian Hohm, Hamilton '20, “Finding Connections East and West: An Exploration of Comparative Philosophy,” Summer 2018
  • with Kina Viola, Hamilton '14, “Infinity in Poetry, Fiction, and Philosophy,” Summer 2013
  • with Simon Judd, Hamilton '13, “Reading Spinoza's Ethics,” Summer 2011
    
• Class of 1966 Career Development Award
  • To develop a course on the mathematics, fiction, and philosophy of infinity, Summer 2014
  • To develop a text for Symbolic Logic, Summer 2011
    
• Joel Dean Grant and Dana Internship, for Research in Education, Swarthmore College, 1986–87

Professional Service, Hamilton College

• Hamilton College Summer Program in Philosophy (HCSPiP)
  • Founder and Director, 2017–present
• Philosophy Department Chair, 2020–2025, 2026-2027
• Workday Transition Ambassador, 2025–Present
• Hillel Faculty Advisor, 2019–2025
• Pedagogy-in-Practice TBL group, PI, Spring 2025
  
• Faculty Chair, Hamilton College, 2022–2023
• First Year Course (FYC) Advisory Committee, Fall 2020–2023
  • Designed and led Mentoring Training Workshop Series
• Committee on Evaluating Teaching, 2019–2021
• Appeals Committee, 2019–2022
  • Chair, 2020–2022
• Faculty Mentor (for junior faculty), 2016–present
• Government-Philosophy Digital Search Committee Co-Chair, 2020
• Education Studies Committee, 2017–2020
• Advising Committee, 2017–2018
• Honor Court, 2010–2017
• Humanities Planning Committee, 2010–2016
• Junior Faculty Caucus, 2010–2015
• New Faculty Orientation Committee, 2010–2012
• Library of the Future Committee, 2010–2011
• Institutional Review Board (IRB), Spring 2010

Other Professional Activity

• American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT), 2008–present
  • Immediate Past President, 2025–present
  • Development Committee Chair, 2025–present
  • Archivist, 2024–present
  • President, 2023–24
  • Vice President, 2021–22
  • Awards Committee, 2017–present
    • Chair, 2021-present
  • Program Committee, 2010–present
    • Chair, 2010–16
    • Organizer, AAPT 2020 Pandemic Pedagogy Workshop
  • Teaching Hub Consultant, 2018–present
  • At-Large Board Member, 2017–2020
  • Sessions Committee Chair, 2018–2020
  • Lenssen Prize Committee, 2011
  • Nominating Committee, 2008–2010
  • Organized and Chaired Panel, “My Top Five,” Eastern APA, January 2021
  • Organized and Chaired Panel, “My Top Five,” Eastern APA, January 2020
  • Organized and Chaired Panel, “My Top Five,” Eastern APA, January 2019
  • Organized and Chaired Panel, “Core Texts: Gettier Cases,” Eastern APA, January 2019
  • Organized and Chaired Panel, “Core Texts: Descartes Meditations,” Pacific APA, March 2018
  • Chaired Sessions at Eastern APA, December 2009; Eastern APA, January 2017
    
• American Philosophical Association (APA)
  • Member, 1998–present
  • Committee on Teaching of Philosophy, 2023–24
    
  • Search Committee, JAPA Editor-in-Chief, 2020–21
  • Teaching Hub Committee, 2017–present
    • Co-Chair: Eastern APA 2020
    • Co-Chair: Eastern APA 2019
      
  • Chaired Sessions at Pacific APA, 2009; Eastern APA, 2013; Eastern APA 2017; Eastern 2019
• New York Six Classroom of the Future Committee, 2026–Present
• Mind and Method, Editorial Board, 2025–present
• Teaching Philosophy, Editorial Board, 2018–present
• Mathematics Association of America (MAA), Member, 2008–present
• Temple Emanu-El, Utica, Coordinator of Religious School, 2015–2018
• Ad hoc reviewer: Philosophia Mathematica, Synthese, The Journal of Philosophical Research, Erkenntnis, Kriterion, Teaching Philosophy, Analysis, Manuscrito; Mathematical Reviews; Routledge, Bloomsbury, MIT Press
  
• Logic Puzzle Master, Union College Logic Puzzle Contest, 2008–09
  
• CUNY Philosophy Ph.D. Program, Committees:
  • Student Steering Committee
  • Admissions Committee
  • Doctoral Students Council
  • Kornblith Chair Search

Courses Taught in Philosophy

• Philosophy 550—Independent Research Seminar (Hamilton College)
• Wittgenstein, Senior Seminar (Hamilton College)
• Intuitions and Philosophy, Senior Seminar (Hamilton College)
• Knowledge, Truth and Mathematics, Senior Seminar (Hamilton College)
• The Language Revolution (Hamilton College)
• Contemporary Philosophy (Hamilton College)
• Philosophy of Mind (Stern College)
• Modern Philosophy (Hamilton College)
• Knowledge and Education (Hamilton College)
• Advanced Logic (Queens College)
• Godel’s Theorems (Hamilton College - independent study)
• Non-classical Logics (Hamilton College - independent study)
• Practical Logic (Hofstra University)
• Logic (Hamilton College, Queens College, Hofstra University, Swarthmore College, as T.A.)
• Infinity (Hamilton College, First-Year Course)
• Philosophy of Education (Hamilton College, First-Year Course)
• Infinity and Beyond (Hamilton College)
• Business Ethics (Queens College)
• Ethics (Queens College, Hofstra University, College of Staten Island)
• Introduction to Philosophy (Hamilton College, Queens College, Hofstra University, College of Staten Island)

Theses Supervised or Examined (Undergraduate, Hamilton College)

• Adviser
  • Jaden Valencia, “In Defense of Private Language,” Fall 2024
  • Ivan Wu, “Two Accounts of the Principle of Alternate Possibilities and Their Problems,” Fall 2024
  • Stephen Socolow, “Collaborative Instruction in Logic: How to Teach Formal Logic to First-Time Philosophy Students,” Fall 2024
  • Hank Morgan, “Virtuous Tribalism: How to balance morality and practicality in social organization,” Fall 2024
  • Olivia Strigh, “How AI Influences Beliefs through Cognitive Extension,” Fall 2024
  • Christina Stoll, “Curiosity, Agency, Creativity, and AI,” Fall 2024
  • Carolyn Gevinski, “Fictional Worlds, Narrative Empathy, and Altruism: Does reading fiction make us better people?” Fall 2021
  • Anna Goula,” A Dialogue on The Relationship Between The Mind and The Body,” Fall 2021
  • David Jordan, “Happy and Black in America?,” Fall 2021
  • Eliza Jones, “Credibility Excess as Epistemic Injustice,” Fall 2021
  • Elise Michelle Wilson, For Shame, For Shame! Uncovering Shame as a Moral Response,” Fall 2021
  • Nicholas Osarenren, “Anti-Poverty: A Rawlsian Justification for Universal Basic Income,” Fall 2021
  • Heather Devlin, “On Justice: An Argument for Justice’s New Virtue Ethical Framework,” Fall 2021
    
  • Jacob Bortner-Hart, “Between Rationalism and Fideism: The Naturalist Response to Meillassoux,” Fall 2019
  • Sam Greene, “Unusualness and the Proof/Probability Distinction: Removing Personal Bias from Hume's Epistemology of Testimony,” Fall 2019
  • Ian Hohm, “The Nature of Personal Identity: Implications for Authenticity,” Fall 2019
  • Rachael Lurker, “Soldiers and the Social Contract: An In-Depth Analysis of the Ethics of Deploying Citizens,” Fall 2019
  • Julia McGuire, “The Rationality of Anger and its Possible Dissipation: An Investigation of the Backwards-Looking Emotion,” Fall 2019
  • Kendall Meyer, “The Ethics of Abortion Today,” Fall 2019
  • Bryce Murdick, “Economic Code Duello: How to Structure Economic Losses to Maximize Consumer Benefit and Liberty,” Fall 2019
  • Lukas Puris, “Is Peter van Inwagen's 'Free -Will Thesis' Incoherent? An Analysis of van Inwagen's Responses to the Mind Argument's Original Proponents,” Fall 2019
  • Corinne Russell, “Reference, Cognitivism, and Truth in the Novel,” Fall 2019
  • Johnny Seabright, “Heidegger's Ontology and Deep Ecology: Amending the failures of consequentialist environmental ethics,” Fall 2019
  • Lindsey Song, “The Consequences of Moral Luck on our Moral Judgments: Does the existence of moral luck threaten to erode most of our moral judgments?” Fall 2019
  • Haotian Yang, “On Human Nature: A Comparative Study of Aristotelian and Mencian Virtue Ethics,” Fall 2019
    
  • Brett Bracco, “Non-Therapeutic Infant Male Circumcision: The Ethical Issues,” Fall 2016
  • Sophie Gaulkin, “Sexual Healing: Does Language Preclude Authenticity?” Fall 2016
  • Emily Magruder, “Working Towards Happiness: An Exposition of Epicureanism and Guidelines to Happiness,” Fall 2016
  • Jake McDougall, “Metaphysical Realism: The Door Not the Window,” Fall 2016
  • Sara Purinton, “Nietzschean Affirmation: A Joyous Challenge,” Fall 2016
  • Connor Sharkey, “On the Rationality & Moral Permissibility of Physician-Assisted Suicide in Light of the Theoretical Nature of Suicide as an Action,” Fall 2016
  • Hunter Green, “Character and Culpability: The Value of Mitigation in Noncapital Sentencing,” Fall 2015
  • Adrian Marcano, “The Neglect of a Nation: The Social Contract and Black Consciousness Explored Through Hip-Hop in the U.S.,” Fall 2015
  • Sean Thomas Martin, “Submerged Selves: Immersionism & the Refutation of Material Reductionism,” Fall 2015
  • Osaruese Odeh, “The Noble Lie: Anthropocentric Egoism and Altruistic Behavior,” Fall 2015
  • Hal Shimkoski, “A Humean Defense of Soft Determinism,” Fall 2015
    
  • John Angarola, “The Two Are One: Examining the Legitimisation of Chinese Philosophy Through the Conception of Benti and Dialectics of Harmony,” Fall 2013
  • Grant Meglis, “They're A Bunch of ******: Determining the Origins of Slur Offensiveness,” Fall 2013
  • Jason Driscoll, “Reconsidering Intellectual Property: How Ideation is Framed in a Public Context,” Fall 2013
  • Max Schnidman, “Economic Epistemology and Naturalized Economics,” Fall 2013
    
  • Berk Emir Ildiz, “Logical Regimentations of Spinoza's Ontological Argument,” Honors Thesis, Spring 2012
  • Kevin Kerr, “Evidence, Inference, and Clutch Hitting: A Study In Induction and Confirmation,” Honors Thesis, Hamilton College, Spring 2010
  • Tudor Seserman, “Not a Something, but Not a Nothing,” Honors Thesis, Hamilton College, Spring 2009
  • Chris Boveroux, “Internal or Intentional? – Dennett and the Intentional Stance,” B.A. Thesis, Hamilton College, Spring 2008
• Examiner
  • Christopher Bousquet, “Ineffability and Emotion: Salvaging the Ineffable and Expressing it Through Art,” Spring 2016
  • Jackson Graves, “Of Choices and Character: An Inquiry Into the Purposes of Education at Hamilton College,” Spring 2016
    
  • Mercedes Corredor, “Truth Pluralism without Representationalism,” Spring 2015
  • John Crowther, “The Epistemic Value of Art and Emotions,” Spring 2015
  • Brendan Conway, “The Heroism of the Dark Knight,” B.A. Honors Thesis, Spring 2009
  • Jeff Kitsis, “Fair Play, Gamesmanship and Cheating: A Three-Category Theory of Sports,” B.A. Thesis, Spring 2009
  • Theresa Fisher, “Rawlsian Global Justice: Reconciling Cultural Differences,” B.A. Honors Thesis, Hamilton College, Spring 2008

Teaching Experience in Philosophy

Hamilton College

Fall 2007 to Present

Courses Taught: Introduction to Philosophy; First-Year Course: Philosophy of Education; First-Year Course: Infinity; Logic; Modern Philosophy; Knowledge and Education; Contemporary Philosophy; Philosophy of Language; Senior Seminar: Intuitions and Philosophy; Senior Seminar: Wittgenstein; Senior Seminar: Philosophy of Mathematics; Philosophy 550—Independent Research Seminar

Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University

Spring 2007

Adjunct Instructor

Course Taught: Theories of the Mind

Queens College, CUNY

Spring 1998 to Spring 2007

Graduate Teaching Fellow, Adjunct Lecturer

Courses Taught: Advanced Logic, Logic, Business Ethics, Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics

Hofstra University

Spring 1998 to Summer 1999

Adjunct Instructor

Courses Taught: Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Practical Logic

College of Staten Island, CUNY

Spring 1995 to Spring 1997

Graduate Teaching Fellow

Courses Taught: Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics

Other Teaching Experience

SPISE: Select Program in Science and Engineering, City College, CUNY

October 1992 to Spring 1999

Math enrichment program for city high school students

Topics taught include: Boolean Algebra, Königsberg Bridge and Graph Theory, Statistics, Numeric Integration

Queensborough Community College, Mathematics Department

Fall 1994 to Spring 1995

Courses taught include Number Systems, Elementary Algebra

Cardozo High School, Mathematics Department

September 1992 to June 1993

Courses taught include AP Computer Science, Sequential Math I, Sequential Math II, Computer Math

Costa Rica Academy, San Jose, Costa Rica

August 1989 to June 1992

Courses taught include Statistics, Introduction to Mathematics, AP Language, American Literature, Journalism, World History

Newtown High School, Mathematics Department

Spring 1989

Courses taught include Sequential Math I, Computer Math

Jamaica High School, Mathematics Department

Fall 1988

Courses taught include Sequential Math I, Fundamentals of Mathematics

Advised math magazine

Graduate Courses Taken (at CUNY, except where noted)

• Logic, Math, and Computer Science
  • Incompleteness and Undecidability (Elliot Mendelson)
  • Computability (Elliot Mendelson)
  • Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (Rohit Parikh)
  • Set Theory (Michael Levin)
  • Modal Logic (Melvin Fitting)
  • Advanced Logic (Richard Mendelsohn)
• Metaphysics and Epistemology
  • Knowledge and Nature of Abstract Objects (Jerrold Katz)
  • Epistemology (Charles Landesman)
  • Philosophy of Mind (John Greenwood)
  • Space and Time (Arnold Koslow)
  • Metaphysics (David Rosenthal)
• Philosophy of Language
  • Semantic Paradoxes and the Logic of Truth (Hartry Field)
  • Vagueness and Indeterminacy (Stephen Schiffer)
  • Truth Theories (Haim Gaiffman, Columbia University)
  • Philosophy of Language (Stephen Schiffer)
• History:
  • Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Arthur Collins)
  • The Discovery of Metaphysics: Plato, Parmenides, and Aristotle (Peter Simpson)
  • Descartes (David Rosenthal, audited)
• Ethics
  • Ethics (Steven Ross)
  • Utilitarianism (Douglas Lackey)
  • Social and Political Philosophy (Steven M. Cahn)

Work in Progress (Ambitions)

Essays: Philosophical Pedagogy

“Significant Activities in Philosophy TBL”

“Asking Better Questions in Class”

Essays: Philosophy of Mathematics

“Mathematical Explanations of Physical Phenomena, Indispensability, and Autonomy Platonism,” with Manuel Barrantes

“Thin Mathematical Intuition and Mathematical Epistemology”

Essays: Other

“Embracing the Cartesian Circle”

“Virtuous Circles, Vicious Circles, and Philosophical Methods”

Books

A Team-Based Introduction to Philosophy, with Kimberly Van Orman

Themes in the Objections and Replies: Objections and Replies to Descartes’s Meditations Organized Topically with New Introductory Material