Teaching Contributions
I began teaching at St. Jerome’s last term, teaching PHIL 100J Introduction to Philosophy over the winter of 2022, and I had a wonderful experience. The students in the class were inspiring: engaged, engaging, enthusiastic, insightful, and unafraid to take on the task of reading and thinking about philosophical texts and issues. After a number of students expressed interest, we even formed an informal summer reading group, agreeing to meet twice over the summer to talk about a couple of short stories by Tolstoy and Haruki Murakami.
Research or Other Contributions to the Field
The overall focus of my academic work is sorting out the relationship between philosophy and theology, reason and faith, and the religious and the secular. Recently, I had the chance to complete a two-part study of Tolstoy’s short story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” which, I am so pleased to report, will be published this summer by Palgrave MacMillan as a part of their Pivot series (specializing in publishing short books or essays, like mine, that have run on far too long).
Hobbies & Interests
At the moment, my partner and I are all hands on deck as we try to steer ourselves through the waves of parenting two wee ones: a 3-year old and a 6-week old. This sea has quiet, calm, serene, heavenly moments, but storms seem to erupt so violently, out of nowhere, that we are constantly kept on our toes, watching for any signs of a change in the weather. I also like metaphors and, when I have a few hours to spare, I delight in playing some pick-up basketball or volleyball.
Path to St. Jerome’s
As I completed my doctorate, I worked in a number of part-time positions in different social services offered to community members where I live in Hamilton. During the pandemic I applied to teach online courses across Canada and had the opportunity to teach two courses remotely at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax. Last year, before joining the St. Jerome’s team over the winter, I taught in the First Year Seminars program at the University of Guelph. My path to St. Jerome’s was a windy one, as I’m sure it was for many of us. But, after having such a lively introductory class, I could not be happier to have joined the CAS at SJU. I was also thrilled to have colleagues with whom to chat once again, after spending a couple years out of the academic world and then another year online. In short, I truly look forward to submitting applications to teach at SJU again next year.