Teaching

Productive Disagreement: Gender | Spring 2020, University of Notre Dame

Why are so many contentious moral issues related to gender and sexuality? How ought we navigate disagreement about such issues in an increasingly polarized and pluralistic environment? This course will equip you to address these complex social realities and to articulate a rationale for your understandings of gender and sexuality.

Contemporary Moral Issues | Spring 2018, Taylor University

We’ll examine philosophical arguments for a variety of positions on currently contentious moral issues including abortion, capital punishment, drone warfare, drug legalization, euthanasia, global warming, illegal immigration, polygamy, racism, refugees, same-sex marriage, torture, and vegetarianism.

Contemporary Christian Belief | Spring 2018, Taylor University

This course engages with questions that pose the greatest challenge to Christian faith in contemporary culture. It is designed to encourage you to think deeply and carefully about Christianity. You will be well-served by doing so whether you are a Christian, another kind of theist, pantheist, agnostic, atheist, or aren’t currently sure what you believe.

Western World Religions | January 2018, Taylor University

In this course we’ll investigate the origins, doctrine, and contemporary practice of Judaism, the Bahá’í Faith, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and interfaith movements. You’ll have opportunities to learn from followers of these religions via interactions with a dozen guest speakers and fieldtrips to religious communities in Indianapolis and Detroit.

God and the Good Life | Fall 2016, University of Notre Dame

In the inagural semester of this innovative course, students approached philosophy as a way of life by engaging four of life's big questions: What should I believe? What are my moral obligations? Should I practice a religion? What would it take for my life to be meaningful? The class uses interactive digital resources to pair lectures with in-class debates and intensive discussion groups, modeled after the Sustained Dialogue program.