I started teaching for Brasenose in 2000, having worked for a number of Oxford colleges through the previous decade. I teach modern philosophy (and occasionally theology) for the college and coordinate undergraduate admissions for philosophy at undergraduate level across the university.

My own university education was at Edinburgh and then at Leeds; the common thread through my undergraduate years was philosophy, though along the way I also studied mathematics, geography and theology, and learned a little classical Greek. I trained as a schoolteacher in mathematics and geography, which apparently qualifies me to serve as a graduate advisor for Brasenose’s own student training to be schoolteachers in the Education Department. My interests range across the core areas of modern philosophy, particularly at the boundaries and intersections of philosophy and theology.

I teach first year logic and moral philosophy, and in later years (for ‘finals’) a range of papers in modern philosophy, including core papers such as Early Modern Philosophy, Ethics and Philosophy of Mind; among option papers my teaching includes Philosophy of Religion and Aesthetics (the philosophy of art and art criticism).

Tutorial teaching allows close cooperation of teacher and student in the process of intellectual growth and development. It’s this which makes teaching at Oxford so rewarding and special, and it’s particularly valuable for the study of philosophy.