Teaching

“No one is wise alone.” – Ursula K Le Guin (Tales from Earthsea)

I challenge myself first to convey the joy of studying philosophy and to expose students at every level to the beauty and diversity of philosophic traditions.

I teach philosophy as a practice of cooperation, not competition.

We dialogue, not to win, but to understand.

The greatest gift for pursuing understanding is an interlocutor that thinks very differently than oneself. Fairly understanding the other's position, to the best of our ability, is the first and most difficult task of doing philosophy.

Experiential Learning

I plan and lead interdisciplinary field and travel courses that blend philosophy, ecology, environmental history, governance, and management. These courses involve meeting the experts working in each field we study and participating in their work through service and research.

Past trips have explored:

Winter Wolf-watching in Yellowstone, meeting with wolf biologists, local ranchers, wolf tourism business owners, and park officials.
Restoration and Environmental Governance on Blackfeet and Flathead Reservation land.
US and Canada trans-border water and fire governance.

Advanced Seminar Topics

Environmental Philosophy

Special Topics: History of Enviro Philosophy, Ecofeminism, Indigenous Enviro Philosophy, Ontology/Phenomenology of Nature and Wildness, Enviro Aesthetics.

Environmental Ethics

Special Topics: History of Conservation/Public Land Policy, Wilderness Policy, Restoration and Rewilding, Climate Change, Environmental Technologies, including geoengineering, climate mitigation, and industrial agriculture.

Philosophy of Technology

Special Topics: Albert Borgmann, Heidegger, Don Ihde, phenomenology of technology.

Large Lecture and Intro Courses

Introduction to Ethics (for majors and non-majors)

Introduction to Philosophy (for majors and non-majors)

Philosophy and Literature (esp. Ancient, Romantic, and lyric nature writing)

Virtue Ethics, Ancient and Contemporary

Topics in Ancient and Late Antiquity (esp. Plato, Aristotle, Augustine)

Feminist Epistemology and Ethics, including standpoint epistemology, embodied knowledge, and care ethics