- B.A. Boston College, double Major in Theology and Philosophy (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa)
- M.T.S. Vanderbilt Divinity School, Theology and Philosophy
- Ph.D. (ABD) Boston College, Moral Theology
- University Department Religion and Philosophy
- Location David Hayworth hall 214
- Phone Number +1 (336) 841-9410
- Email [email protected]
Areas of Specialization:
Catholic Moral Theology
Virtue Ethics
Theories of Justice
Religious Autobiography
Courses Taught:
PHL 2008 Social Ethics
REL 2015 Faith and Ethics
PHL 1001 Introduction to Philosophy
FYS 1000 Prisons, Monasteries, and Ghosts: Religious Autobiography and the American Self (First Year Seminar)
REL 1001 Hebrew Bible
REL 1002 New Testament Studies
My academic interest in ethics was born in my first class in college, a “great books” course called “Perspectives in Western Culture.” It was a year long survey guided by the question “what is the best way to live?” which examined answers from the Western religious and philosophical traditions and invited us to enter into critical dialogue with the great thinkers of our cultural heritage. That question and dialogical approach guided my graduate work at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Boston College, and served as a fruitful foundation when I began to teach my own courses. This was particularly true when I began teaching service learning courses, which integrated serving the community with reflection on lives of action and contemplation, the meaning of justice, and how to live well in community. I hope that students find my classes as an invitation to dialogue with their classmates and authors of the “great books” and to reflect on what it means to live a good human life in relationship with God and others. I recently published the book Primary Source Readings in Christian Morality with St. Mary’s Press in 2008.