Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses    
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests    
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights    
Selected Scholarly Presentations

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• Assistant Professor of Philosophy
• Post-Baccalaureate Fellowships and Scholarships Coordinator

Academic Background        

• The Catholic University of America     
  • Doctor of Philosophy, 2004, With Distinction
  • Master of Arts, 1998, Magna Cum Laude
• Fordham University - Bachelor of Arts, 1992

• Social and Political Philosophy
• Philosophy of Art
• Contemporary Philosophy
• Logic

The classical Greeks had the original and perhaps best model for practicing philosophy.  Their method, after Socrates, was fundamentally dialectical.  They conducted their investigations of the task of living in a community of friends committed to the pursuit of truth.  The classroom should model this community. It should be friendly, encouraging, rigorous (even exacting), familiar, hospitable and wrapped (whenever possible) in a sense of the aesthetic.  The hospitality of the classroom is essential if students are to be encouraged to take chances, to question aggressively and to enjoy the process.

All of my courses share the following goals:  To model the pursuit of truth in the Socratic tradition -- that is, as a means to self-understanding; to transmit some basic knowledge of the western philosophical cannon; and to allow students the space to critically examine the concepts and philosophical problems presented in class. At the end of the day, teachers have the unusual goal of making themselves obsolete. We are midwives who help give birth to liberally minded, liberally educated adults. If those adults have become "lifelong learners" and critical thinkers, then we have done our jobs and they have no more need of us. My goal is to help produce students whose critical skills are augmented by knowledge of the western intellectual tradition -- its strengths and its deficiencies -- and to encourage them to continue to reflect on their nature and purpose as human beings.

Areas of Specialization with Current Research Interests

• Philosophy of History -- especially the thought of R.G. Collingwood and Alasdair MacIntyre
• Political Philosophy -- especially the philosophical foundations of political community; earlier twentieth century defenses of liberal democracy against fascist critiques; and history of political philosophy
• Contemporary philosophy (20th Century)- - especially British Idealism; and the "New Historicism"

Areas of Competence

• Ethics  
• Ancient and Modern Epistemology

• Committee on Aid to Faculty Research (CAFR) Grant, Providence College, Summer 2007 until end of Summer 2009: Collingwood, the Will and Continental Philosophy
• Davis Technology Grant, Providence College, Summer 2005 until end of Spring 2006: Using Technology to Foster Interdisciplinary Thinking in DWC

Publication Highlights

• "A Peculiar 'Faith': On R.G. Collingwood's Use of St. Anselm's Argument", in The St. Anselm Journal, Vol. 3, no. 2 (Spring 2006): 32-47.
• "On Collingwood's Theory of Time."  In The Philosophy of History. Edited by Alexander MacFie.  Palgrave-Macmillan Publishing Co., 2006. Pages 83-102.

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• "Why Does the 'Good' Need a History?"  Paper Presented at the International MacIntyrean Philosophy Society Annual Meeting, University College Dublin, Ireland.  (3/9/09)
•  "An Argumentative Ally: MacIntyre and Collingwood on Defining the Good".  Paper Presented at the International MacIntyrean Philosophy Society Annual Meeting, St. Meinrad College, Indiana.  (8/1/2008)
• "Willing Disunity: Collingwood, Schmitt and the Politics of Historical Consciousness."  Paper Presented at the Collingwood Society Conference, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.  (10/18/2007)
• "The Ugly American, or, Why Nietzsche Hates Democracy."  Paper Presented at the Phi Sigma Tau Induction Ceremony, Providence College, (4/19/07). 
• "Does Collingwood Know What Time It Is?  A Question from Heidegger about Self-Understanding."  Paper Presented as a Keynote Seminar at the Institute for Historical Research.  University College London, England. (11/17/2005)
• "The Role of Resignation of the Will in Collingwood's Moral Philosophy."  Paper Presented at the Collingwood Society Conference, Monk Coniston, England. (7/6/2005)

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