Before arriving at Glasgow in 2024, I have taught at the University of Stirling and La Trobe University (Australia). I received my PhD from La Trobe in 2019, and a BA from the University of Melbourne. In between, I completed a Masters of Teaching and worked for several years as a school teacher.

My research spans topics in political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and philosophy of language. I am particularly interested in the way that words can structure the social world, often in pernicious ways. Currently, I am working on the role played by online political (and AI) communication in this.

I am also committed to widening participation in higher education, and in philosophy especially, and have developed and delivered short programs and engagement activities in pursuit of this.

My work focuses on harmful speech, online communication, and the interaction between them. There are many ways that words can bring about harm, and social media has evolved the types, and effects, of harmful speech we need to worry about. This is especially important given the role that speech plays in shaping the social norms that guide our interaction with each other.

This intersects with political philosophy (what speech should be restricted, and who should decide?), philosophy of race and gender (how does harmful speech affect unjust social arrangements), and philosophy of language (is harmful online speech speech different to its offline equivalent?).

Previous work has examined cat-calling, slurs, and ableist insults, as well as the dynamics of political speech on social media. I am currently thinking about the impact that the 'speech' of large language models will have on both our online communication, and the wider social norms that are influenced by that communication.

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Prior publications

This semester I am teaching:

• Philosophy 1A: How Should I Think?

• JH4 Political Philosophy 

I have previously taught (at other institutions) modules such as 'Philosophy of Bad Language', 'Human Rights Theory', 'Thinking Critically', 'World-Changing Science', and a range of introductory modules spanning the philosophy curriculum.