Welcome! I am currently a Masters student in the Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare program at Virginia Tech, and am a canine behavior consultant at See Spot Play.

Previously, I was Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Theology and Philosophy at Mount Mary University. Before that, I was Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Siena College from 2014-2017. My primary research interests are in 20th Century German philosophy, philosophy of art, and philosophy of play, focusing especially on the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Eugen Fink. My recent book, A Hermeneutics of Poetic Education: The Play of the In-Between, develops an account of contemporary poetic education in response to the accounts of aesthetic education in 17th and 18th Century German thought. Critically engaging the works of Eugen Fink, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Paul Celan, this book argues that poetry and play call for a particular stance in the world and with others. My current projects focus on interspecies hermeneutics and the human-canine relationship. I teach courses in introduction to philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of health, and the history of philosophy. In my free time, I enjoy baking, traveling, and playing with dogs.