Hi! I am the Catherine Shultz Rein Early Career Professor and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Penn State's Department of Philosophy. I am also Associate Director of the Rock Ethics Institute.
Outside of my home institution, I am an affiliate of The Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination, a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Potsdam's Political Theory department, and a Faculty Fellow at the California Center for Ethics and Policy. Between 2016-2018, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University's McCoy Center for Ethics in Society. I completed my PhD in Philosophy at King's College London in July 2016. Recently, I was awarded the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.
My primary research interests lie in contemporary social and political philosophy, with a special focus on questions about immigration, discrimination, and global justice. My first monograph, Immigration and Social Equality: The Ethics of Skill-Selective Immigration Policies (Oxford University Press), can be ordered here. There, I argue that social equality has a universal scope, and that non-citizens are entitled to be treated as social equals. Using this framework, I advance a distinctive critique of existing immigration policies. In conjunction, I pursue three lines of analysis: the moral status of skill-based immigrant selection, migrants' non-compliance with structurally unjust immigration laws, and the relationship between colonialism and immigration justice. My second book project, On the Right to the Freedom of Movement, is in progress.
In the unlikely event that you wish to hear me speak, I discuss the ethics of immigration on ABC's Philosopher's Zone podcast, and I talk about resisting colonialism on UCL's Uncovering Politics podcast.
I have strong developing interests in the philosophy of race, decolonial thought, and social epistemology. Broadly speaking, my secondary research attends to the ethics of knowing and representation in the context of museums. Other matters of ongoing curiosity include how the mega-rich billionaire class are reshaping social norms and relations; the moral value of robots and our relationships with them; David Lynch's Lost Highway.
My spare time is largely spent on perusing instant photography and making electronic music. While I can't in good conscience recommend either hobby to anyone, I particularly admire Robby Müller and Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids. The painting I've used throughout my webpage is a beautiful wave by Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet. It's not identical to the one I used to admire in Edinburgh's National Gallery, but it's close enough. My other favourite painting is Holbein's The Ambassadors, but that's a tad too sinister for a header image, don't you think?
(page last updated, albeit never to satisfying completion, on 10/02/25)
Outside of my home institution, I am an affiliate of The Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination, a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Potsdam's Political Theory department, and a Faculty Fellow at the California Center for Ethics and Policy. Between 2016-2018, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University's McCoy Center for Ethics in Society. I completed my PhD in Philosophy at King's College London in July 2016. Recently, I was awarded the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.
My primary research interests lie in contemporary social and political philosophy, with a special focus on questions about immigration, discrimination, and global justice. My first monograph, Immigration and Social Equality: The Ethics of Skill-Selective Immigration Policies (Oxford University Press), can be ordered here. There, I argue that social equality has a universal scope, and that non-citizens are entitled to be treated as social equals. Using this framework, I advance a distinctive critique of existing immigration policies. In conjunction, I pursue three lines of analysis: the moral status of skill-based immigrant selection, migrants' non-compliance with structurally unjust immigration laws, and the relationship between colonialism and immigration justice. My second book project, On the Right to the Freedom of Movement, is in progress.
In the unlikely event that you wish to hear me speak, I discuss the ethics of immigration on ABC's Philosopher's Zone podcast, and I talk about resisting colonialism on UCL's Uncovering Politics podcast.
I have strong developing interests in the philosophy of race, decolonial thought, and social epistemology. Broadly speaking, my secondary research attends to the ethics of knowing and representation in the context of museums. Other matters of ongoing curiosity include how the mega-rich billionaire class are reshaping social norms and relations; the moral value of robots and our relationships with them; David Lynch's Lost Highway.
My spare time is largely spent on perusing instant photography and making electronic music. While I can't in good conscience recommend either hobby to anyone, I particularly admire Robby Müller and Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids. The painting I've used throughout my webpage is a beautiful wave by Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet. It's not identical to the one I used to admire in Edinburgh's National Gallery, but it's close enough. My other favourite painting is Holbein's The Ambassadors, but that's a tad too sinister for a header image, don't you think?
(page last updated, albeit never to satisfying completion, on 10/02/25)