Service & Outreach
Philosophy of Science
I worked as Managing Editor for Philosophy of Science from September 2020 through December 2022 under the direction of then Editor-in-Chief Andrea Woody. I oversaw manuscripts from submission to publication, acted as book review editor, and mediated the concerns of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher's production team. |
Universal Design for Learning Against a Background of Injustice
I have been a part of the Climate/Diversity Committee in the philosophy department at UW since September 2018. In June 2020, in light of the protests against police brutality, the committee put together a grant proposal with the aim of discussing how long-standing violence and oppression against Black students should affect our teaching strategies, particularly given our department’s values and aims of inclusivity and diversity. The committee was responding to a petition from the Black Student Union to UW administrators asking for academic accommodations in spring quarter, given their trauma-related burdens (psychological and physical) from that incredibly difficult time. The Climate/Diversity Committee recognized that this burden clearly pre-dated spring 2020, and so aimed to explore how universal design for learning (UDL) principles, attuned to the impacts of racism and the long legacy of racial injustices, might better address the understandable needs of the students. After the committee received the grant, I helped organize two workshops where we invited speakers who specialized in developing and assessing equitable, anti-racist interactions, dynamics, and grading within the classroom to give presentations and participate in a Q&A session. Using what we learned from this workshop, the committee then developed a UDL resource guide for the department and anyone else who needs it. |
Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands
While at UTEP, I was trained to be a P4C Instructor by Amy Reed-Sandoval and had the humbling opportunity to teach children and young adults philosophy in my borderland community and hometown. I taught at two sites: a daycare and a high school. Rayito Del Sol Daycare I taught at Rayito Del Sol Daycare, a daycare that mostly serves children of low-income and of Mexican background. I was trained to lead conversations with children on topics like epistemology (e.g., “How do you know what you know?”), ontology (e.g., “How do you know X exists?”), ethics (e.g., “Why is it wrong to bully someone?”), aesthetics (e.g., “What do you consider beautiful?”), and philosophy of language (e.g., “How do I know you’re talking about this [point to pencil] when you ask to borrow my pencil?”). I learned early on in this experience that young children make great philosophers. Austin High School After my initial exposure to P4C in the daycare setting, I volunteered to teach at the high school level. I led a weekly philosophy class on the topic of my choice at one of the more culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged high schools in El Paso. It was during these classes that I realized how much I enjoyed teaching young adults and designing my own courses and class activities. I had the freedom to talk with students not just about the more abstract philosophical inquiries, but also about topics related to social justice, which I soon realized was a popular topic among the students. |
The Borgen Project
While completing my master's at UTEP, I wanted to make a difference on a larger scale -- at a state, national, or even international level. I also wanted to use another skill I was cultivating to make an impact -- my writing. I worked for 12 weeks as a Writer/Journalist for The Borgen Project, a national humanitarian organization working to make global poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy. During this volunteer opportunity, I produced at least one article per week for The Borgen Project’s blog and Magazine on topics related to global poverty in order to build awareness of global issues and innovations in poverty-reduction. Here are just a few examples of the articles I wrote during my time at the Borgen Project: |