Current Thoughts at a Glance
I adventure through the world of perception, by means of phenomenology and art. How can viewing a piece of art, listening to some music, or tasting a meal be as creative as producing them?
The main thinkers I engage are Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Edmund Husserl, Josef Albers, Gaston Bachelard, Marcel Proust, Georg Gadamer, and John Dewey.
As part of my research, I look at Impressionism & Abstract Expressionism, listen to jazz and contemporary music, watch dancers, talk to culinary connoisseurs, and seek out any other experts in creatings things that engage the senses. I think that by being creative in our reception of works, we can become reoriented toward the world in a more rich and generative way.
Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute, Turner, 1835
painting at top: Joan Mitchell, Hours, 1989
Conference Highlights
(See my CV, Academia.edu page, or LinkedIn profile for a more comprehensive list.)Disability & Museums
Disability, Justice, and Human Rights Workshop, Stony Brook University, Spring 2019
Watch the presentation
Ground Without Figure: A Phenomenology of Peripheral Sightedness
Forty-Second Annual Merleau-Ponty Circle, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Fall 2018
Forthcoming as a chapter in an edited collection with SUNY Press
What Color is this Sound?: Merleau-Ponty, Synesthesia, and Creative Perception
Paper Presentation and Art Exhibition, Ninth Annual Pacific Association for the Continental Tradition, University of San Francisco, Fall 2017
Read the paper here
Landscapes of the Southwest: Bachelard, Proust, and Merleau-Ponty
Tenth Annual Pacific Association for the Continental Tradition, Yosemite National Park, Fall 2018
Read the paper here
IT’S ALL ABOUT DESCRIPTION
Phenomenology for me
Phenomenology, in my own work, is first and foremost a practice. An important part of my work is fine-tuning my own abilities for description (whether it be of a painting, a landscape, a meal, or a song, in traditional phenomenological form or other experimental practices, such as “responsive poetry”). I then use these descriptions to develop insights regarding aesthetic experience, considering how to better curate artworks in order to allow the spectator to be creative their reception (just as I am when I engage my world through description).
Pictured: Homage to the Square: Soft Spoken, Josef Albers, 1969teaching is enriching students’ worlds through dialogue
Critical Pedagogy & Interdisciplinarity
As someone interested in studying pedagogy and thinking deeply about the questions of what it means to learn well, I attempt to make my classrooms as dialogical as possible. Rather than merely creating a unidirectional information dump, I seek to cultivate an environment where mutual conversations can happen, which extend beyond the classroom.
An example of some of the exciting, interdisciplinary courses I have taught is “Universal Design, Disability Studies and Phenomenology,” where students studied phenomenologies of space and the politics of disability to then develop their own Universal Design proposals to improve their campus community. Pictured: Bords d’une rivière (Riverbanks), Cézanne, 1904-05Service & Awards
Here are some recent, notable service positions, academia-related gigs, and awards. See my CV for a more complete list.
Curriculum VitaeWorking with director Anne O’Byrne, I helped to coordinate the 44th annual Collegium in Città di Castello, Italy, from July 8–26, 2019.
Collegium Phaenomenologicum
Graduate Assistant
More info on CollegiumGiven by Stony Brook upon my acceptance to the program for being an “exceptionally qualified incoming doctoral student.”
Graduate Council Fellowship
Stony brook
Granted to aid in my help for Collegium Phaenomenologicum. The committee states that “awards are determined based on the quality and impact of the applicant’s work, both within their field and academia.
Distinguished Travel Award
Stony brook graduate student organization
As President of the PGS, I helped to create more opportunities for community building and mutual involvement in the philosophy department at Stony Brook.
President & Vice President
Philosophy graduate society, stony brook
As Assistant for the Arendt Circle, I organized submissions, designed posters, and took care of other administrative and creative tasks.
Thirteenth Annual Arendt Circle
Graduate assistant
I have assisted five different professors at Stony Brook University, from Philosophy, Italian Studies, and Art History, helping with creative and administrative tasks, including Manuscript Editing, Image Permissions, Journal Submission Review, and more.
Graduate Assistant
for several professors at stony brook
It’s all about what you know
Some graduate work
To get an idea of what sort of thinking I’m trained in, here is a selection of some of my completed graduate coursework.
The Continental Body with Dr. Edward S. Casey
Aesthetics: Wit & Humor, with Dr. Lydia Goehr at Columbia University
Abstract Expressionism: Materials & Meaning, with Dr. Jim Coddington at NYU’s Institute for Fine Arts (included over ten exclusive museum tours)
Phenomenology & Color, with Dr. Megan Craig
Interdisciplinary Research Design in Women’s/Gender/Sexuality Studies, with Dr. Nancy Hiemstra
Pictured: Jackson Pollock’s “Number 1, 1949”
