The commitment to understand psychopathology and offer proposals to enhance human flourishing that inspires my research also motivates my work as a teacher.
I am honored to be recognized in a number of Teaching Awards:
2019- 2020 Honoree of “Professor of the Game” Recognition, University of Texas at San Antonio
Each year UTSA Student athletes nominate professors that they feel have left a positive mark on their lives. Honored professors are recognized as “Professor of the Game” at a UTSA team game.
2018- 2019 Honoree of “Professor of the Game” Recognition, University of Texas at San Antonio
2015-2016 Honoree of the most inspirational faculty member recognition by one of the Daemen College Top Five Student Athletes with the highest GPAs.
Each year five student athletes with the highest GPA’s at Daemen College are invited to a luncheon to celebrate their excellent academic records. Each student invites a faculty member who was inspirational for his or her success. The President and top Academic Affairs leadership congratulate the students and the faculty instrumental in their success.
2014-2015 Honoree of the most inspirational faculty member recognition by two of the Daemen College Top Ten Freshman students.
2013-2014 Honoree of the most inspirational faculty member recognition by two of the Daemen College Top Ten Freshman students.
Each year the ten students with the highest GPA’s in their first year at Daemen are invited to a luncheon to celebrate their excellent academic records. Each student invites a faculty member who was inspirational for his or her success. The President and top Academic Affairs leadership congratulate the students and the faculty instrumental in their success.
As a professor who is committed to research, I regularly involve my students in my research. I try to collaborate with at least one student on a research project every semester. Some of this work has been supported with Teaching Grants:
2018-2020 Open Educational Resources Grant, UTSA, USA ($1000 per annum)
Supports the development of electronic teaching materials. More info can be found here. Here are some of my reflections on the importance of low/no cost educational materials:“Students have told me many times how much they appreciated not having to pay a lot of money to buy a textbook, and how they love being able to access the material easily through Blackboard. I would use a similar argument to convince my peers to adopt free textbooks for their course. More specifically, I would make three arguments:
The Student-Faculty Interdisciplinary Research Think TankGrant at Daemen College supports a select number of faculty members to conduct theoretical and applied research with students.
In my work with students I encourage them develop their strengths as researchers by mentoring them to develop their writing and even publish research papers.
One of my students, Elise Williams, wrote a paper entitled, “What is a Good Patient: Insights from Philosophy of Medicine” under my mentorship. Her paper received the best undergraduate research paper award at the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts’ 19th Annual Spring Research Conference. She also presented the same paper at the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Conference (2019), which was published in NCUR Proceedings. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Genetic Counseling at the University of Pittsburgh while also working as a Genetic Counsellor assistant at the University of Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.
One of my undergraduate students, Gabby Sinnott, wrote a paper, entitled Euthanasia: A Form of Newgenics? under my mentorship and presented her work at the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Conference in 2018. The work has been published in the NCUR proceedings.
A former undergraduate student, Ashley Cheff (currently at Arizona State University, studying law), turned three papers she wrote under my mentorship into oral presentations which were accepted to the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) conferences in 2015 and 2016 –a highly competitive conference that showcases undergraduate research. These papers, entitled “Ethical Implications of Inconclusive Scientific Research on Schizophrenia”, “Mental Illness and Danger: The Negative Implications of this Automatic Association” and “Involuntary Civil Commitment Laws: The Role of Danger” have been published in the NCUR proceedings.
I also co-author with my students. An example of this work is a co-authored review of the book, Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers, by philosopher Nancy Sherman, which is published in January 2016 in Metapsychology Online Reviews.
2018-2020 Open Educational Resources Grant, UTSA, USA ($1000 per annum)
Supports the development of electronic teaching materials. More info can be found here. Here are some of my reflections on the importance of low/no cost educational materials:“Students have told me many times how much they appreciated not having to pay a lot of money to buy a textbook, and how they love being able to access the material easily through Blackboard. I would use a similar argument to convince my peers to adopt free textbooks for their course. More specifically, I would make three arguments:
- Textbooks are expensive and our students really struggle to buy them: especially when we consider the fact that most of our students are first-generation college students, and we are a Hispanic-serving institution. It is unfair to expect them to pay for these books when we already know that they work at multiple jobs in order to make ends meet.
- Having a textbook does not automatically mean a good class: in fact most textbooks tend to be super-focused and do not allow for flexible application of the material. Instead, a curated course with freely-accessible materials makes a very engaging and robust course.
- Getting to work with a knowledgeable librarian on curating materials for the course can be very educational for the faculty. I am very excited about the possibility to work with the esteemed staff in the library to enhance my knowledge of online materials relevant to my field.”
The Student-Faculty Interdisciplinary Research Think TankGrant at Daemen College supports a select number of faculty members to conduct theoretical and applied research with students.
In my work with students I encourage them develop their strengths as researchers by mentoring them to develop their writing and even publish research papers.
One of my students, Elise Williams, wrote a paper entitled, “What is a Good Patient: Insights from Philosophy of Medicine” under my mentorship. Her paper received the best undergraduate research paper award at the UTSA College of Liberal and Fine Arts’ 19th Annual Spring Research Conference. She also presented the same paper at the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Conference (2019), which was published in NCUR Proceedings. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Genetic Counseling at the University of Pittsburgh while also working as a Genetic Counsellor assistant at the University of Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.
One of my undergraduate students, Gabby Sinnott, wrote a paper, entitled Euthanasia: A Form of Newgenics? under my mentorship and presented her work at the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Conference in 2018. The work has been published in the NCUR proceedings.
A former undergraduate student, Ashley Cheff (currently at Arizona State University, studying law), turned three papers she wrote under my mentorship into oral presentations which were accepted to the National Consortium for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) conferences in 2015 and 2016 –a highly competitive conference that showcases undergraduate research. These papers, entitled “Ethical Implications of Inconclusive Scientific Research on Schizophrenia”, “Mental Illness and Danger: The Negative Implications of this Automatic Association” and “Involuntary Civil Commitment Laws: The Role of Danger” have been published in the NCUR proceedings.
I also co-author with my students. An example of this work is a co-authored review of the book, Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers, by philosopher Nancy Sherman, which is published in January 2016 in Metapsychology Online Reviews.
I taught internationally at various scholarly communities hosting an ethnically diverse populations. Let me highlight my Teaching Experience:

Assistant Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
Graduate Courses
2020- 2021 PHI 5033 Philosophical Research and Writing (Fall)
2020-2021 PHI 6973 Philosophy of Science (Fall)
2019-2020 PHI 6973 Special Studies in Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind (Spring)
2019-2020 PHI 4973 Senior Seminar: Philosophy of Mind (Spring)
Undergraduate Courses
2020- 2021 PHI 3033 Philosophy of Science (Fall)
2019-2020 PHI 2123 Contemporary Moral Issues (Fall)
2019-2020 MHU 4813 Seminar in Medical Humanities (Fall & Spring)
2018-2019 PHI 2123 Contemporary Moral Issues (Spring & Summer)
2018-2019 MHU 4813 Seminar in Medical Humanities (Fall & Spring)
2018-2019 PHI 5273 Social and Political Philosophy (Fall)
Assistant Professor, Daemen College, USA
2013-2018 PHI 102 Medicine, Culture, and the Self: Introduction to Medical Humanities
2013-2018 PHI 329 Magic and Science: Principles of Scientific Reasoning
2013-2018 PHI 321 Medical Ethics
2013-2016 NUR 614 Ethical Issues in Advanced Nursing Practice (Graduate course)
2013-2018 PHI 247 Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry
2013-2018 PHI 110 Philosophical Thinking
2013-2014 PHI 457 Religious and Scientific Views of the World
2013-2014 PHI 232 Ambiguity of Human Experience
Instructor, Boğaziçi University, Turkey
2012 Critical Thinking
Instructor, York University, Canada
2008 Mind, Brain, and Self
2007 Philosophy of Psychology
Teaching Assistant, York University, Canada
2010 Social and Political Philosophy (Maloney)
2009 Applied Ethics (King)
2008 Locke, Berkeley, and Hume (Empiricism) (Jopling)
2007 Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz (Rationalism) (Jopling)
2007 Human Nature (King)
2007 Social and Political Philosophy (Kompridis)
2007 Introduction to Philosophy (Maclachlan)
2006 Social Introduction to Philosophy (Veltman)
2005 Existentialism (Hattiangadi)
2004 Meaning of Life (Jackman)
Teaching Assistant, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
2003 Political Philosophy (Crossley)
2002 Ethics (O’Hagan)
Teaching Assistant, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
2001- 2002 Economic History and Civilization 1-2 (Yildirim)
Graduate Courses
2020- 2021 PHI 5033 Philosophical Research and Writing (Fall)
2020-2021 PHI 6973 Philosophy of Science (Fall)
2019-2020 PHI 6973 Special Studies in Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind (Spring)
2019-2020 PHI 4973 Senior Seminar: Philosophy of Mind (Spring)
Undergraduate Courses
2020- 2021 PHI 3033 Philosophy of Science (Fall)
2019-2020 PHI 2123 Contemporary Moral Issues (Fall)
2019-2020 MHU 4813 Seminar in Medical Humanities (Fall & Spring)
2018-2019 PHI 2123 Contemporary Moral Issues (Spring & Summer)
2018-2019 MHU 4813 Seminar in Medical Humanities (Fall & Spring)
2018-2019 PHI 5273 Social and Political Philosophy (Fall)
Assistant Professor, Daemen College, USA
2013-2018 PHI 102 Medicine, Culture, and the Self: Introduction to Medical Humanities
2013-2018 PHI 329 Magic and Science: Principles of Scientific Reasoning
2013-2018 PHI 321 Medical Ethics
2013-2016 NUR 614 Ethical Issues in Advanced Nursing Practice (Graduate course)
2013-2018 PHI 247 Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry
2013-2018 PHI 110 Philosophical Thinking
2013-2014 PHI 457 Religious and Scientific Views of the World
2013-2014 PHI 232 Ambiguity of Human Experience
Instructor, Boğaziçi University, Turkey
2012 Critical Thinking
Instructor, York University, Canada
2008 Mind, Brain, and Self
2007 Philosophy of Psychology
Teaching Assistant, York University, Canada
2010 Social and Political Philosophy (Maloney)
2009 Applied Ethics (King)
2008 Locke, Berkeley, and Hume (Empiricism) (Jopling)
2007 Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz (Rationalism) (Jopling)
2007 Human Nature (King)
2007 Social and Political Philosophy (Kompridis)
2007 Introduction to Philosophy (Maclachlan)
2006 Social Introduction to Philosophy (Veltman)
2005 Existentialism (Hattiangadi)
2004 Meaning of Life (Jackman)
Teaching Assistant, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
2003 Political Philosophy (Crossley)
2002 Ethics (O’Hagan)
Teaching Assistant, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
2001- 2002 Economic History and Civilization 1-2 (Yildirim)