I have taught nearly twenty different courses throughout my teaching career, which range widely in subject matter and pedagogical approach. For those who are interested, I have included the various course descriptions and syllabi below. Browse to your heart's content!
Ninth & Tenth Grade
English 9: Literature of Our Multi-Centric World Maret School
Students read, discuss, and write about literature from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to enjoy the diversity of human experience and to understand the literary techniques that animate them: setting, characterization, point of view, motif, theme, symbolism, and the elements of style. Students refine their critical reading abilities by learning to value and analyze textual patterns and writers’ decisions about language. They advance their writing skills, focusing on clear organizational structure, effective use of evidence in analytical writing, and powerful stylistic choices infused with their own emerging voices. They also learn to appreciate the craft of writing through creative pieces inspired by the texts they read. Students develop the interpersonal skills necessary for effective classroom discussion, debate, and performance.
English 10: Literature, Culture, and Identity in the United States Maret School
Exploring the relationships between literature, culture, and identity, this course introduces a diverse range of stories, voices, perspectives, and experiences throughout the United States. Students examine the techniques, themes, values, and ideas that shape the literary tradition and select from a range of contemporary texts to enhance their understanding. They compare and contrast literary ideas as a means of developing close analysis and evaluation. Students deepen analytical reading skills, work to structure and support complex written arguments, and polish their ability to effectively use vocabulary and grammar by preparing short and long writings. Students cultivate their critical, creative, and communication skills by drafting essays, presenting ideas, and designing narratives through informal and formal media (e.g. presentations, discussions, interviews, reviews, and short films).
How do human beings seek meaning? Are there shared responses to fundamental questions about God, identity, friendship, and our place in the world? In what ways, if at all, are our responses shaped by race, gender, sexuality, and religious identity? This course will examine narrative, philosophy, and film in its efforts to make sense of various human responses to these questions. Possible texts may include Night, by Elie Wiesel; The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin; Euthyphro, by Plato; The Color Purple, by Alice Walker; Descartes’ Meditations; and the Bhagavad Gita.
A critical examination of selected traditional and contemporary views of human nature with the following questions in mind: Do we have a characteristic nature? What are our basic needs, purposes, rights, obligations, and values? To what extent are our actions determined by heredity and instinct? Are we free? Are we responsible for our actions? Do the answers to any of these questions differ for males and females? Given an understanding of human nature, how should we structure society to satisfy our needs and take advantage of our potential?
The primary aim of this course will be to orient students toward the various religious, political, social, and cultural contexts that shaped the formation of the biblical text. Who were the biblical authors? How did their biases shape what was (and wasn’t) included in the biblical narrative? Is there only one God? Did God have a wife? Who was Mary Magdalene and what was her role in early Christianity? How does the biblical narrative continue to shape the manner in which we think today? This course assumes no prior understanding of or engagement with the biblical text.
Religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Phillips Academy
This course introduces students to the religious traditions that originated in Middle East, flourished in and formed in the West, and are practiced by people throughout the world today. In order to emphasize the living plurality and intersectionality of these faiths, the bulk of the course will be structured around a term-long project pertaining to the religious communities here at Andover. Through direct engagement with said communities, students will come to understand the fundamental structures of belief and meaning that shape adherents’ lives, the rituals that form and renew them, and the social teachings that move them to action.
An introduction to religious studies through examining some of the traditions that originated and flourished in Asia and are practiced by people throughout the world today. Using an approach that is both critical and empathetic, students will explore fundamental structures of belief, meaning, and practice that constitute the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese religion, the diversity within each of these traditions, and their multiple manifestations throughout the world. In doing so, students will explore their own essential questions of meaning in dialogue with these traditions.
Religion and Popular Culture Phillips Exeter Academy
In his introductory essay to Religion and Popular Culture in America, Bruce David Forbes writes, “we are likely to discern more about the meanings of popular culture when we examine patterns rather than isolated examples.” Indeed, this idea forms the methodological bedrock for Religion 240. By examining the work of several major anthropological thinkers in the study of religion, such as Victor Turner and Mircea Eliade, students will learn to identify various religious patterns in popular culture, in turn discovering that the boundaries between the “religious” and the “secular” are not as hard and fast as once thought. Moreover, students will actively work to become better critics of popular culture, recognizing the power structures inherent in our society, as well as their subsequent impact on religious and cultural identity in the United States and the world today.
Humanities II: World Religions Northfield Mt. Hermon School
Humanities II combines world history and world religions to examine four guiding questions: What is the story of power and powerlessness? What has created diversity within and across traditions and cultures? What is progress? How and why do humans pursue it? How, then, shall we/I live in relation to others and the planet? Over the course of the term, we will explore a variety of different religious traditions, including – but not limited to – Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Hindu Tradition, and Buddhism. We will also consider larger thematic questions regarding religious, such as sacred space, ritual, systems of order, and myth, examining both primary texts and more contemporary material.
This course provides students with a broad introduction to the field of religious studies. In addition to acquiring the theoretical foundation to understand and engage with a range of different religious traditions, students will also explore the complexity of religious belief, practice, and behavior through an interdisciplinary lens. Drawing from the fields of history, literature, film, sociology, anthropology, and psychology students grapple with the myriad ways in which different groups of people, at various points in time, have sought to make sense of their worlds through religion. Specifically, students consider the relationship between religion, power, and identity through various case studies, including but not limited to the role of religion in past genocides, peacekeeping efforts, social justice movements, and politics. Throughout the course, students build skills in close reading, critical thinking, and analytical and reflective writing.
Black turtlenecks, cigarette smoke, Parisian cafés: these may be some of the associations you have with Existentialism. And they are, in some cases, accurate ones. More important, though, these potentially-caricatured images can remind us of the real human concerns and sentiments of the Existentialists: the quest to live an authentic life, to break free from conformity – whether that took the shape of rigid gender norms, ossified forms of organized religion, or the oppressive totalitarianism of the Nazis. These thinkers sought to confront life – all of it – as it was lived, and to explore the implications of their findings in their own lives. We will soon learn that there is no single theme or thread that unites all the individuals in this course. Some of them lived and died before the term “Existentialism” came into regular parlance. Others rejected the term outright, or sought to redefine its meaning.
With nearly two billion adherents globally, Islam is one of the fastest growing religious traditions in the world today. Yet, with less than 1 percent of the U.S. population identifying as Muslim, it is also one of the most misunderstood. What is Islam? Where is it practiced? What do Muslims believe? This course aims to introduce students to the vast internal complexities of the Islamic tradition through a combination of primary and secondary sources in history, scripture, law, art, and popular culture. In addition to exploring the origins of the tradition in the Middle East and its subsequent expansion, students will also examine a variety of contemporary issues, such as the rise of Islamophobia in West; the role of gender, jihadist, and fundamentalist movements; and Muslim immigration in the United States.
An exploration of the Holocaust through diaries, memoirs, films, works of fiction, and later nonfiction reflections on the phenomenon. Questions to be engaged will include the following: What was it like for the victims? What was it like for the perpetrators? Who were the bystanders? How could it have happened? What elements from Jewish, Christian, and secular tradition contributed to its possibility? What inspired and motivated resistance, and how were resistance efforts sustained? How have various Jewish, Christian, and secular thinkers responded to the challenge of this event? What have been some of its effects on our own feelings about life and human beings?
Religion in America: One Nation Under God(s)? Phillips Academy
In contemporary American public life, religion is everywhere, and the United States is considered one of the most religious countries in the world. This course will examine the role of religion in American history and politics, from colonial times to the present day. Questions to be addressed include: Is American a Christian country? What role did religion play in the founding of America? Did the founding documents seek to create a separation of church and state? How were religious arguments used to justify or challenge slavery? What are the causes of the rise of fundamentalism in the 20th century? What, looking forward, is America’s religious identity in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic society?
Religion, Literature, and the Arts: Dante's Inferno Phillips Academy
Demons. Fire. Brimstone. The Hell of the modern imagination is one filled with devils and torture; yet, this wasn’t always so. Indeed, we can credit much of our modern conception of Hell to one fourteenth century Italian poet, whose his epic poem about the afterlife has proven to be one of the most enduring pieces of literature in the western tradition. Dante’s Inferno continues to captivate audiences long after its publication in the early 1300s, resurfacing in art, literature, music, film, and present day popular culture. Who was Dante? And why do we continue to find his ideas about the afterlife to be so compelling? This course will explore the complex world of the Divine Comedy, as well as the rich literary and artistic tradition spawned by the Italian poet's ideas.
This course will use the phenomenon of pilgrimage to complicate the lines we typically draw between the secular and the sacred. What exactly is pilgrimage? Who goes on pilgrimage? What is pilgrimage supposed to do? Richard Niehbur writes that, “Pilgrimage reinterprets the word ‘experience’ for us,” but to what end? To what extent is pilgrimage a physical experience? An internal one? What perspectives can pilgrimage offer on our lives? Are we currently in the midst of pilgrimages of which we are unaware? How are these pilgrimages shaping our identities at this very moment?
Introduction to Philosophy Phillips Exeter Academy, Northfield Mt. Hermon School
What is really real? How do I know what I know? Do I have free will? What is the good? These are other speculative questions have troubled the western mind for millennia. This course follows a topical approach to the history of Western philosophy on such issues as metaphysics, epistemology, the problem of evil, the philosophical roots of ethics, and political philosophy. Students will read from the works of ancient and modern writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Hume, Bentham, and Locke to assist them in coming to their own understanding of these topics. Students will discover what philosophy is and how philosophers question and reason.
Ethics and the Marketplace Phillips Exeter Academy
The very topic of Religion 312 is controversial. Some argue that business ethics and corporate social responsibility do not (and should not) exist. Others strongly believe that business has many moral responsibilities – and that very few of those are met. We’ll begin by getting a better understanding of what the corporation is and how it functions, and make sure we understand the key features of capitalism and the global economy. Along the way we will consider many specific cases in which business has confronted ethical dilemmas over the past few decades
What we are about to explore has many names. It has been called the mystical tradition, the perennial tradition, the direct path, the path of the heart, the journey to (and with) the Beloved, the practice of yoga, the unique self development, and the contemplative tradition. Aldous Huxley, who wrote Brave New World, called this exploration “the science, not of the personal ego, but that of the eternal Self in the depth of particular, individualized selves, and identical with, or at least akin to, the divine Ground.” What these traditions share is the understanding that there can be an integration between the self and whatever we might call Ultimate Reality or God or Spirit, and that this union is in part realized through a path of spiritual practice.
Like many other educators, I was introduced to the world of online learning for the first time in March 2020, when my colleagues and I were asked to transition to remote instruction in a matter of days. There is no question that this pivot was challenging, but it also forced a return to the pedagogical basics: What is essential to the student learning experience, and how can we design for meaningful engagement within a remote platform? In the course of this redesign, we repackaged our program with greater attention to student agency, multiple learning modalities, and the role of feedback, in turn providing a platform for further reflection that would be relevant to any setting that aimed to engage students in learning.
Since then, I have had an opportunity to work as a faculty member at Global Online Academy, which has provided further opportunities to collaborate with teachers at other schools in a collective effort to cultivate meaningful learning experiences for students. In addition to information about specific courses I have taught, you will also find some blog posts below about my experience with online learning.
Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues Global Online Academy
This is an applied philosophy course that connects pressing contemporary issues with broad-range philosophical ideas and controversies, drawn from multiple traditions and many centuries. Students use ideas from influential philosophers to examine how thinkers have applied reason successfully, and unsuccessfully, to many social and political issues across the world. In addition to introducing students to the work of philosophers as diverse as Confucius, Kant, John Rawls and Michel Foucault, this course also aims to be richly interdisciplinary, incorporating models and methods from diverse fields including history, journalism, literary criticism, and media studies. Students learn to develop their own philosophy and then apply it to the ideological debates which surround efforts to improve their local and global communities.
Students in this course study several of the major genocides of the 20th century (Armenian, the Holocaust, Cambodian, and Rwandan), analyze the role of the international community in responding to and preventing further genocides (with particular attention to the Nuremberg tribunals), and examine current human rights crises around the world. Students read primary and secondary sources, participate in both synchronous and asynchronous discussions with classmates, write brief papers, read short novels, watch documentaries, and develop a human rights report card website about a nation in the world of their choice.
Religion, Literature, and the Arts: Margaret Atwood Phillips Academy
This course offers an in-depth exploration of the literary, artistic, and socio-political heritage of a major religious text or author. The spring term will focus on the literary works of Canadian author Margaret Atwood. A self-professed author of “speculative fiction,” Atwood’s novels conjure provocative visions of the near future that can at times be both frightening and alarming in their proximity to our own realities. This course aims to explore these fictional worlds in greater depth, focusing specifically on the ways in which Atwood engages the subject of religion. By reading novels such as The Handmaid’s Tale, The Year of the Flood, and The Testaments, students will grapple with the following questions: How exactly does Atwood understand religious identity? In what ways do Atwood’s novels serve as mirrors for our own society? To what extent can Atwood’s portrayal of religion help us become more informed critics of religious language in our own lives?
Religion in America: One Nation Under God(s)? Phillips Academy
In contemporary American public life, religion is everywhere, and the United States is considered one of the most religious countries in the world. This course will examine the role of religion in American history and politics, from colonial times to the present day. Questions to be addressed include: Is American a Christian country? What role did religion play in the founding of America? Did the founding documents seek to create a separation of church and state? How were religious arguments used to justify or challenge slavery? What are the causes of the rise of fundamentalism in the 20th century? What, looking forward, is America’s religious identity in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic society?