Teaching

  1. Current/Future classes:
  2. FAQ for students:
    1. Q: How do I ask for a Letter of Recommendation (LOR)?
    2. Q: How do I ask you to be my (co-)supervisor/(co-)advisor/committee member/external examiner?
    3. Q: I find your teaching/research/community engagement/random-thing-you-said-once super interesting and I’d like to know more! What should I do?
  3. Past teaching at SFU
  4. Past teaching elsewhere:

Current/Future classes:

2023F: Philosophy of Machine Learning (PHIL 302)

2023F: Introduction to Philosophy of Science (PHIL 144)

FAQ for students:

Q: How do I ask for a Letter of Recommendation (LOR)?

A: For high stakes LORs (e.g. grad/med/law schools, prestigious scholarships), note that I am able to write you a strong letter only if

  1. you come to class regularly;
  2. you come to office hour occasionally;
  3. you receive at least an A- from the class.

For lower stakes LORs, I may be able to write you a letter if you satisfy only one of the above.

I will not be able to write you an LOR if you satisfy none of the above.

To ask for an LOR: please ask at least 2 weeks prior to your earliest deadline. Include a list of places you’d need the letter for and let me know if the list isn’t complete (which is fine). Include your CV, statement of purpose, and any other application material that you’ve somewhat finished preparing (rough drafts are okay; bullet points are also okay).

Q: How do I ask you to be my (co-)supervisor/(co-)advisor/committee member/external examiner?

A: You can just email me to ask. Be sure to 1) explain your topic/interest, and 2) explain your timeline. If you’re not an SFU philosophy MA student, please also tell me what product your program expects you to produce. You don’t have to have taken my classes before. Expect that I will want to meet with you first.

Q: I find your teaching/research/community engagement/random-thing-you-said-once super interesting and I’d like to know more! What should I do?

A: It’s always lovely to receive emails telling me that something I’ve done is appreciated by someone. So if that’s all what you want me to know, you can just send that.

That said, I occasionally receive emails asking for background readings, references, introductory texts, etc. Please know that a reading list takes a lot of time and effort to put together, and so it’s a lot to ask. I’m generally happy to share my syllabus (which often doesn’t exactly match my research focus) and you are more than welcome to check the reference list of my published papers. But, other than that, I will not respond to reading list asks by people I have not met.

I’m generally happy to chat with people about service-related things, but please be clear, in the email, what you are asking of me. It’s okay (it’s great) if you just want to chat about something you’re struggling through and think I might have experience with. Otherwise, please clearly state if you are asking me to be a panelist (sounds great), an advisor (maybe), or a co-organizer (probably not) of something, so I can better judge the level of commitment required.

Past teaching at SFU

2023S: Philosophy of Statistics (PHIL 302)

2023S: Introduction to Philosophy of Science (PHIL 144)

2022F: Advanced Topics in Epistemology – Measurement in Science (PHIL 455W/804) 

Past teaching elsewhere:

2021: Contemporary Philosophy of Science, held in person. (Syllabus differs from below but I like this one better.)

2020: Contemporary Philosophy of Science, held online due to COVID-19.

2020: Introduction to Symbolic Logic, held online due to COVID-19.

2019: Logic and Probability, offered in a 5-week Summer Session that meets twice a week in 3-hour trunks.