Bio:

I am currently a teaching assistant at USF teaching two sections of Composition 1101,

as well as an adjunct philosophy professor at Edison College with four sections

of Introduction to Ethics.And I like men.

Teaching Philosophy

My philosophy on supporting a strong intellectual environment at the college level is to create a classroom structure where there can be a free and open discussion of ideas and differing points of view. It should be an environment that is stimulating and challenging, but also one where students realize that their instructors care about their progress and educational goals. This combination of thought provoking ideas and positive student/teacher interaction can and will contribute to a strong interactive academic community. An instructor should be able to relate to the student body in a friendly and non-intimidating manner that leads to a good classroom environment where students should be actively involved in the learning process.

Also I believe that students should never be taught what to think, rather they should be instructed how to think and write, which teaches them the best way to explain and defend their point of view. A teaching curriculum that lends itself to the student actively pursuing both inward and outward discovery has the benefit of broadening the student’s horizons. This in turn gives the student the critical ability to understand new ideas while also teaching the linguistic competence to be able to get those ideas across to others.

There are two points that I find extremely important to my teaching philosophy. They both deal with the plurality of ideas found in the world today, as well as the increasing inability to give students the “truth” or “correct” answer. I believe that whatever a student’s argument or position is on a subject, it should be backed up with reasons why the student has that opinion. It is perfectly understandable for a student to say what they believe, but the goal of a liberal arts education is to teach them to give reasons why their argument is tenable and also show them the best way to get that argument across.

Finally, in dealing with the plurality of the world today, and the lack of a final “truth” that plurality seem to inhibit, I believe that diversity should be a goal of a liberal arts education. The problem is there must be a distinction drawn between clichéd terms like diversity and multiculturalism that seem to lead to a cultural relativism where everything is equal, and a more nuanced term which explores difference while still creating distinctions. I feel that this second type of diversity should be a cornerstone to a good liberal arts education, while the first type harms a student more than it helps, by creating a false equality that does not admit to meaningful difference.