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Professor
Department of Philosophy Georgetown University Contact information: Department of Philosophy 37th and O Sts NW, 234 New North Washington DC, 20057 I grew up in one of the suburbs surrounding Salt Lake City, Utah. My mother worked as a piecemeal seamstress; my father drove locomotive and painted military camouflage; I read a lot of books, tossed a lot of boxes out of trailers, and spent a little time building railroad. I also went to college for a little while.
I did undergraduate work in philosophy and history at Westminster College of Salt Lake City; I pursued graduate work in philosophy at Colorado State University, Washington University in St Louis, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Finally, after I finished my Ph.D. in philosophy, I did postdoctoral research in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and at the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. |
My current research and teaching bear the mark of this eclectic history. I am currently writing on a wide range of issues across the cognitive, biological, and social sciences. Over the past couple of years, I have been exploring the role of allostatic regulation in biological cognition; and I have been exploring ways to integrate insights from Yogācāra Buddhism with models from the cognitive sciences. My current love, however, is the aesthetics of extreme metal and horror—and I’m drawing on insights from Buddhist philosophy and cognitive science to explore the possibility of a form of cathartic contemplation in these contexts.
I draw upon all of this reseach in the classes that I teach. In recent classes, I have also explored different ways of understanding philosophy as a tool for practical engagement with the world; and many of my classes have focused on questions about cognitive architecture, cognitive diversity, aesthetic experience, prefigurative practice, and worldbuilding.
I draw upon all of this reseach in the classes that I teach. In recent classes, I have also explored different ways of understanding philosophy as a tool for practical engagement with the world; and many of my classes have focused on questions about cognitive architecture, cognitive diversity, aesthetic experience, prefigurative practice, and worldbuilding.
