Teaching

I regularly teach two core courses required for the Public Policy Leadership major:

PPL 212: Critical Thinking, Communication, and Public Policy
PPL 300: Public Policy and Ethical Analysis

I also teach two upper-level electives:

PPL 343: Punishment Policy
PPL 370: Philosophy of Leadership

You can find course descriptions for each course below, in order from highest to lowest course number. While my course syllabi almost always change in minor ways each semester, the most recent version of the syllabus for each class is also available for download.

PPL 343: Punishment Policy

In the United States, legal punishment takes various forms, but primarily consists of incarceration or fines. Yet what justifies the state in putting people in prison or taking their money? Put another way, why do we punish people? Understanding the proper purpose of punishment can help us conform our methods of punishment accordingly. For instance, if the purpose of punishment is to rehabilitate offenders, we will need to ensure that whatever methods of punishment we use actually rehabilitate. Similarly, if the purpose is to deter others from committing crimes, we must verify that our punishments accomplish that goal. In this way, understanding why we punish informs how we should punish. Once we begin investigating the justification of punishment, we may even discover that there simply isn’t any, and we shouldn’t punish anyone at all! In this course, we’ll explore why we punish, how we punish, and how things ought to change so that these questions are in sync.

Download Syllabus (Fall 2025)

PPL 370: Foundations of Leadership

We all think we know leadership when we see it: the charismatic politician, the brave general, the ruthless CEO, the inspiring student athlete. But what makes all of these instances of leadership? What is leadership, anyway?

Some say leadership is simply about being in a certain position. Political leaders are often elected or appointed to a position, and this gives them the authority needed for leadership. But it certainly seems like leadership occurs outside formal positions of authority. Others say leadership is found in the person of the leader. Leaders have a certain character. Some even say that people are born leaders, having some innate charisma or talent for leadership. This raises important questions about what sort of person one needs to be for leadership, and whether anyone can become a leader, or only some elite few. Still others focus on leadership as bringing about certain results. Perhaps leadership is about doing what’s best for your followers or organization. If a leader can’t bring about results for their followers, maybe they aren’t really exercising leadership. Or, perhaps leadership is a process. Leadership may be a relationship between leaders and followers—one that requires that leaders satisfy certain moral obligations and bring about results in the right way.

As we explore the nature of leadership, we’ll encounter complex philosophical questions about human nature, politics, and ethics. Classic thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Sun Tzu, Mencius, Machiavelli, and Hobbes, as well as contemporary theorists, will help us better understand the nature and ethics of leadership.

Download Syllabus (Fall 2023)

PPL 300: Public Policy and Ethical Analysis

In a democracy, reasonable citizens may disagree about what is right and wrong, and consequently about what policies should be in place. One way to try to adjudicate these disputes and determine whether policies are ethical is by appealing to various moral considerations (e.g. consequences, rights, duties, etc.), highlighted by competing moral theories. In this course, we will explore several of these moral considerations and their corresponding moral theories, with an eye toward how to determine whether some policy is ethical and thus resolving moral disputes about public policy issues. In the first part of the course, we will explore theoretical moral foundations, pausing with each to see how they can be applied to some policy issue. In the second part of the course, we will dive into a few timely public policy issues in more depth. By exploring some of these controversial policy topics, we can see (1) how moral theories underlie the disagreements, (2) how to effectively argue for good public policy, and (3) how to create public policies that are ethical and that respect the diversity of our American democracy.

Download Syllabus (Spring 2026)

PPL 212: Critical Thinking, Communication, and Public Policy

Critical thinking is dead. At least, that’s what some have claimed. As a nation, we seem to be highly socially and politically polarized. Many of us belong to some tribe or party and believe something not based on the reasons or evidence supporting it, but based on the way it is seen as crucial to our social identity. We moralize these beliefs so they are even harder to change. And then we insulate ourselves from others who may disagree, perpetuating the polarization. To make matters worse, there has been increased usage of Artificial Intelligence in writing arguments or summarizing readings, leaving us unable to engage in critical thinking on our own.

This course is designed to resurrect the dead. You’ll learn how to think about the values underlying arguments about contemporary issues in public policy, how to create your own properly structured arguments for or against policies, and how to support and evaluate claims in those arguments. You’ll also learn how to effectively and respectfully communicate those arguments in written essays, persuasive presentations, and debates. My hope is that by the end of this course, we’ll have your critical thinking skills back on their feet and ready to resist polarization.

Download Syllabus (Spring 2026)

PHIL 328: Biomedical Ethics

In January of 2020, I taught an honors section of Biomedical Ethics with StudyUSA. During the first part of the course, students learned the basics of biomedical ethics. Then we traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with policymakers, lobbyists, researchers, and more to discuss how bioethics bears on a variety of contemporary issues, including:

Phyllis Arthur, Vice President for Infectious Diseases and Diagnostics Policy at BIO (The Biotechnology Innovation Organization)
Ronald Bailey, science correspondent for Reason magazine
Dr. Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gallaudet University
Dr. Kate Blizinsky, Policy Director for the All of Us program
Dr. Evan DeRenzo, Assistant Director of the John Lynch Center for Ethics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Grace Graham, Health Policy Director, the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Jill Hamaker, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs at Emergent BioSolutions
Kahlia Kéita, Clinical Ethics Educator at the John Lynch Center for Ethics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Klon Kitchen, Senior Research Fellow of Technology at The Heritage Foundation
Senator Trent Lott
Dr. Maximilian Muenke, CEO of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
Taunton Paine, Program Director of Clinical Research at the National Institutes of Health
Amy Pellegrino, Health Policy Director, the US Senate Special Committee on Aging
Dr. Khara Ramos, Director of the Neuroethics Program at the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Meredith Weaver, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
Senator Roger Wicker