Organizing
Image: Puglia, Italy 2019
I aim to develop, support, and contribute to programs, organizations, and resources that address structural injustices both within and beyond academia. I also work to create spaces for collaboration and interdisciplinary engagement and strive to bring together academics, practitioners, and community organizers with a focus on climate justice and governance. I have included information about some of this organizing work below. My commitment to supporting members of marginalized groups in academic philosophy and beyond the academy involves working on a local level within academic departments as well as on a regional and international scale.
I currently serve as an officer on the leadership team for the International Society for Environmental Ethics. I am the co-founder and co-director of the multi-institutional and interdisciplinary Climate Mobilities Working Group. I currently serve on the steering committee for Philosophers for Sustainability and am also a contributing member and researcher of Durham University’s Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy.
Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy: Ethics & Solar Geoengineering Conference: Justice, Legitimacy, & Governance
As Conference Co-Organizer along with Britta Clark, Caitlin Fitchett, and Mathias Risse, and with the support of Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and Harvard University Center for the Environment, we developed the inaugural Ethics and Solar Geoengineering Conference held in February 2023 at Harvard University. The conference brings together philosophers, political theorists, public policymakers, interdisciplinary researchers, and representatives from communities who are especially impacted by climate change in order to explore the normative dimensions of disagreement concerning research, development, and possible deployment of solar geoengineering technologies. The conference is motivated by the dual task of expanding research and deliberation on this novel technology to engage with moral and governance questions in addition to responding to the need to address justice-based considerations for more inclusive research and knowledge production.
The full conference program can be found here. Access to recordings of the keynote presentations, panels, and talks can be found on the Harvard Kennedy School website here.
Philosophers for Sustainability: Philosophy & The Climate Crisis Conference
As Conference Organizer for Philosophers for Sustainability inaugural conference Philosophy and the Climate Crisis (2021), I and my Co-Organizer Eugene Chislenko bring together academics, youth activists, and community organizers to make progress toward addressing climate change, both by addressing the philosophical challenges it raises, and by working together to encourage sustainable practices in teaching, research, administration, advocacy, and community engagement. Our main themes for the conference include:
(I) Moral and political responses to climate change: challenges pertaining to climate justice, inequality, indigenous rights, migration, individual responsibility, responses to disaster and emergency
(II) The role and responsibility of philosophers in research, teaching and course design, service, and in the public domain: effective teaching about climate change, sustainable practices within philosophy, public philosophy, and the role of philosophers in on- and off-campus advocacy.
Philosophers for Sustainability: Philosophy & The Climate Crisis Conference: Climate Action Within & Beyond the University
As Conference Co-Organizer for Philosophers for Sustainability’s second virtual conference, my colleague Eugene Chislenko and I aim to provide a forum for making progress on climate action in practice both within and beyond the academic context. This one-day interactive virtual conference will include workshops and panels on teaching and climate curriculum development, shifting academic institutions in light of climate justice, public climate philosophy, and will provide an opportunity for strategic planning between institutions, individuals, and practitioners.
You can register to attend and receive recordings of the conference here and can learn more about the conference schedule here.
International Society for Environmental Ethics: Mentoring Initiative
As Secretary & Mentoring Director for the International Society for Environmental Ethics, I currently oversee and contribute to the development of various programs and resources aimed at building a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse community in the fields of environmental ethics environmental justice, and climate justice as well as within ISEE itself. The ISEE Mentoring Initiative, which grew out of discussions among attendees at the ISEE summer meeting at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, aims to provide mentoring and peer networking opportunities and has recently focused on developing shared pedagogical resources which is freely available to all here. Other resources include:
A webinar/podcast series:
* Fall 2021 Webinar: Climate Ethics 'in the Field': Integrating Philosophy, Science, Law, and Policy
* Fall 2020 Webinar: Teaching Environmental Philosophy: Engaged and Inclusive Pedagogies
To register for an upcoming webinar, or to join get involved with the Mentoring Initiative, visit our webpage here.
TH!NK Program: Philosophy for Early Adolescents
As the Lead Program Developer of UCI’s TH!NK Program, I contributed to the development of public philosophy education program for elementary school students. During the inaugural year of the program over 500 fifth-grade students participated in a four-week, 16-hour program which presents philosophy as a skill to be developed rather than a subject matter. As a Lead Developer of the program I advocated for expanding accessibility of the program for under-served youth and led pedagogical mentorship and training in inclusive pedagogy for facilitators teaching in the program.
Minorities & Philosophy (MAP) International
I served as a Lead Organizer of Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), an international non profit which aims to examine and dismantle mechanisms that prevent students from marginalized groups from participating in academic philosophy. The organization promotes philosophical work done from marginalized perspectives, and helps to improve working conditions for scholars from marginalized backgrounds. MAP currently has over 140 chapters across the world.
In this role I held an additional leadership position as Organizational Committee Director of the Southern California Workshop on Inclusive Pedagogy. The committee was responsible for developing a working group comprised of several Californian university philosophy department chapters including MAP UC Irvine, MAP UC Los Angeles, MAP UC Santa Barbara, MAP UC Riverside, and MAP USC. This regional coalition generated resources and conducted multi-campus training and professional development workshops for inclusive pedagogical practices.
Hypatia Society
The mission of the Hypatia Society is to promote the retention and success of women and other gender minorities in the discipline of philosophy. Toward this end, the group aims to create a supportive, friendly, and open space to discuss issues related to gender, diversity, and discrimination; as well as to voice our concerns to the broader community, to work toward easing tensions, search for solutions, and collaborate with other groups committed to increasing diversity in their disciplines.
From 2013-2018 I served as the society’s Chair of Development and Public Outreach and served on the Program Committee responsible for organizing the Perspectives on Gender Conference (2014) at the University of California, Irvine. The conference focused primarily on issues pertaining to assumptions about gender that underpin critical social, legal, and cultural norms.
Humanities Research Multi-Campus Working Group Grant: Inclusive Pedagogy
I founded the University of California, Irvine’s MAP chapter and served as its Director from 2014-2017. In this role I contributed to the development of a number of programs and resources for women and other marginalized groups in academic philosophy and higher education more generally.
From 2015-2017 I was a Co-Recipient of the UCHRI Working Group Grant which supported the work and collaboration of researchers from multiple University of California campuses focusing on Inclusive Pedagogy. Our focus was on pedagogical techniques, classroom climate, perceptions of the discipline, and deterring factors prior to college.