PhD Students
Jack Benkelman
Paul Berghaus
Ethics, History of Philosophy
BS United States Military Academy
MDiv Mid-America Reformed Seminary
MA Texas A&M University
ptb31@georgetown.edu
Paul began the doctoral program in the fall of 2016. His research interests include ethics, the history of philosophy (ancient and early modern), and the philosophy of religion. He comes to the study of philosophy by way of teaching professional ethics in the military. Before enrolling at Georgetown, he spent close to twenty years on active duty in the Army first as a combat arms officer and later a chaplain. Outside of his studies, Paul enjoys making the most of the time he has with his wife Mary and their five children.
MaryKate Gaurke (nee Brueck)
Ethics, Bioethics, Phenomenology
BA Loyola University Chicago
mab474@georgetown.edu
MaryKate joined the Philosophy Department in the Fall of 2017. She works primarily in bioethics, with a focus on end-of-life care, and is currently developing a dissertation concerning care for patients with dementia that draws insights from the intersection of bioethics and phenomenology. Outside of her philosophical work, MaryKate enjoys traveling, playing intramural sports, and quality time with her peekapoo, Nyxie.
Dominick Cooper
Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy
BA Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
MA Virginia Tech
drc91@georgetown.edu
Dominick started the doctoral program in philosophy at Georgetown in August of 2019 and has interests in political philosophy, ethics, bioethics, animal ethics, and social ontology. Outside of philosophy, Dominick enjoys reading, DC’s music scene, cooking, biking, snowboarding, and nurturing his obsession with Karl Ove Knausgaard.
Mariana Gomez
BA California State University, Fullerton
mg2002@georgetown.edu
Mariana joined Georgetown’s philosophy doctoral program in the fall of 2021. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and completed her B.A. in philosophy at California State University, Fullerton. Her main interests are in decolonial thought, philosophy of race, and Latina feminist philosophy. Besides her philosophical interests, Mariana enjoys working with prison abolition activist groups in California, traveling to Mexico City when she can to visit her family, and watching movies with her 7-year-old niece, Marissa.
Aaron Gray
Genevieve Hayman
Phenomenology, Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics (Temporality), Feminist Philosophy
BA University of Redlands
MA University College Dublin
gh498@georgetown.edu
Genevieve is a second-year doctoral student with interests in phenomenology, cognitive science, and temporality. She completed her M.A. in philosophy through the Consciousness and Embodiment Programme at University College Dublin. Prior to this, she graduated from the University of Redlands where she designed her B.A. degree: The Tangible and Intangible Aspects of Personhood. Genevieve enjoys hiking, dancing, and playing music (drums and guitar), all of which influence her interest in embodied cognition. She is happy to be geographically between her two families in Las Vegas and Dublin, Ireland.
McKay Holland
Moral Psychology, Social & Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
BA Westminster College
MA Brandeis University
msh81@georgetown.edu
McKay is a fourth-year doctoral student sketching a dissertation about the social bases of agency and self-respect. He’s specifically interested in the interplay between relational conceptions of autonomy and social and environmental niche construction. He also has interests in environmental ethics, the relation between emotion and rationality, friendship, social ontology, and Spinoza.
Since 2014 McKay has served as Managing Editor of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (KIEJ), and will continue with the journal in a support role through 2016.
McKay is a native of Salt Lake City, where he worked in politics, public education, and finish carpentry before relocating to the east coast. He likes to bike, run, rock climb, and when he can, waterski.
Cassius Hou
Bella-Rose Kelly
Critical Phenomenology, Settler Colonial Studies, Philosophy of Disability
BS Scranton University
MA Boston College
Bella-Rose started the doctoral program in the fall of 2023. Her research interests include critical phenomenology, settler colonial studies, and philosophy of disability. In her spare time, Bella-Rose enjoys hiking, camping, plants, and cats.
Chris Kochevar
Phenomenology, Philosophy of Mind, Bioethics, Legal & Political Philosophy
BS Yale
JD NYU
cjk107@georgetown.edu
Chris holds a JD from New York University and a BS from Yale University. Before coming to Georgetown, he worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel. He is interested in philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and bioethics, specifically with regard to mood and psychoactive drugs.
Matthew Koshak
Philosophy of Disability, Ethics, Jewish Philosophy
BA Louisiana State University, Philosophy and Political Science
MA Tufts University, Philosophy
Matthew is interested in the philosophy of disability (especially cognitive disability), ethics and its various histories, and Jewish philosophy. In particular, he is interested in questions surrounding moral communities—what constitutes a moral community, how the boundaries of moral communities are drawn, and which strategies of thought can help us to create more inclusive moral communities.
Before beginning at Georgetown, he received his MA in philosophy from Tufts University and his BA in philosophy and political science from Louisiana State University. He enjoys exploring used bookstores, listening to new music, hiking, and walking (often while listening to music, but rarely while reading!).
Shahriar Khosravi
Ethics & Politics, Poetry, Iran
MA Texas Tech University
sk2343@georgetown.edu
Philipp Kremers
(Social) Epistemology, Social and Political Philosophy (esp. Critical Theory), Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Technology, Philosophy of Religion (esp. Hegel & Spinoza)
BA University of Leipzig
MLitt St Andrews and Stirling Graduate Program in Philosophy
MSt University of Oxford
MA Georgetown University
pk691@georgetown.edu
Philipp joined the doctoral program in 2019. His research interests include (social) epistemology, social and political philosophy (especially Critical Theory), philosophy of language, philosophy of technology, and philosophy of religion (especially Hegel and Spinoza). Before coming to Georgetown, he completed an MSt in Philosophical Theology at the University of Oxford and an MLitt in Philosophy at the Universities of St Andrews and Stirling. Philipp hails from the German North Sea coast.
S.P. Leeds
Philosophy of Disability, Critical Phenomenology, Pragmatics
BA Tulane University
MA Tulane University
spl56@georgetown.edu
S.P. started the doctoral program in the fall of 2020. Their research interests include ethics, social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, philosophy of language, phenomenology, and philosophical issues concerning oppression, disability, gender, sexuality, race, and technology.
S.P. is the Managing Editor of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (KIEJ). They also co-
organize the DIScourse—an ongoing, virtual philosophy and disability workshop—with Sara
Purinton (UPenn), in partnership with the Society for Philosophy and Disability (SPD).
Previously, S.P. worked as the Managing Editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Disability (JPD)
from 2021–2023 and they were the first graduate student to complete the Georgetown
Disability Studies MA/PhD Certificate in 2022.
In their (very little) spare time, S.P. enjoys practicing photography, making art, hiking,
gardening, cooking with their partner, and playing fetch with their dog.
Madeleine Léger
Epistemology, Philosophy of Language, Feminist Philosophy
BA Mount Allison University
mjl325@georgetown.edu
Madeleine is from New Brunswick, Canada. She started the Ph.D. program at Georgetown in August 2021. Her philosophical interests include epistemology, philosophy of language, and feminist philosophy. Madeleine is happiest when she gets to frolic among saltwater marshes, cliffy coasts, and rolling hills. She enjoys cooking (especially for friends), gardening (especially for food), and collecting second-hand books (especially dictionaries). Finally, and perhaps most importantly: Madeleine is honored to share her life with Simone, a truly excellent cat (and philosofeline).
Ebony Manning
Penney Miyan
Philosophy of Mind, Phenomenology, and Bioethics
BA Stony Brook University, Philosophy and Anthropology
MA Georgetown University, Philosophy
MS Tufts University School of Medicine, Biomedical Sciences
pm1154@georgetown.edu
Penney started the doctoral program in the Fall of 2020 and is interested in how phenomenology can be used as a tool to understand perception, attention and cognition. Adjacently, she has interests in physician-patient norms in medical contexts; she is currently working on a project that investigates the relationship among patient testimony, informed consent and autonomy in cases of non-medically necessary cosmetic surgery. When not philosophizing, Penney enjoys reading, being an EMT with her hometown fire department, and going to the gym.
Henry Olree
Will Perrin
Epistemology, Metaethics, Philosophy of Language, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion
BA Pepperdine University, Philosophy
MA Northern Illinois University, Philosophy
Will, hailing from the coastal ranges of Southern California, is a first-year doctoral student interested in what to do and how we know. Those slippery evaluative words like ‘ought’ and ‘rational’ at play in our deliberative lives are particularly interesting to Will. But Will is also broadly interested in most philosophical topics he has come upon so far. Will enjoys, aside from philosophy, sports, humor, and music.
Alex Raycroft
Virtue Ethics, Feminist Philosophy
BA Calvin College
ar1734@georgetown.edu
Alex began her studies at Georgetown in the fall of 2021. She’s interested in how it is we might flourish under conditions of oppression and injustice and is hopeful about the help of creative reparative practices (like storytelling and listening) and moral community in doing so! Though Alex never quite gets outside of philosophy, she does enjoy doing philosophy outside (and while ballet-dancing (quite badly), crafting, and reading Russian literature).
Elisa Reverman
Epistemology of Testimony, Bioethics, Research Ethics
ecr73@georgetown.edu
Elisa is from the Seattle area and began the program in 2018. Her research is centered on the epistemic status of testimonial knowledge in medical and scientific contexts. Outside of her research, she enjoys rock climbing and video games.
Ashton Sorrels
Julien Spurling
Andrew Sullivan
Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Ethics, History of Philosophy
BS Ohio State University, Neuroscience & Philosophy
as4558@georgetown.edu
Andy entered the doctoral program in the Fall of 2019. He has interests in metaphysics, philosophical problems in the behavioral and social sciences, philosophy of psychiatry, metaphilosophy, ethics, and the history of philosophy (especially Kant and post-Kantian German philosophy). Outside of philosophy, Andy enjoys listening to music as well as writing and recording it sometimes (typically folk or electronic). He also likes to walk or run around outside, and to consume baked goods.
Omar Talhouk
19th Century German Philosophy, Classical American Pragmatism, Epistemology, and Metaphysics
BA American University of Beirut
MA American University of Beirut
ort8@georgetown.edu
Omar is a first-year Ph.D. student with primary interests in 19th-century German philosophy, classical American pragmatism, Epistemology, and Metaphysics. He also has a budding interest in the philosophy of law and social philosophy. Before coming to Georgetown, Omar was a part-time lecturer at his alma mater, the American University of Beirut, from which he received both a B.A. and an M.A. in philosophy. Academic pursuits aside, Omar insists on maintaining a pseudo-career in acting, writing, and directing (for both theatre and film).
Christopher A. Torres
Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy
BS University of Notre Dame, Physics
MA Columbia University, Philosophy
cat139@georgetown.edu
Chris began his doctoral studies in philosophy at Georgetown in August of 2020. He is interested in the relationship between facts and values, the (methodology for identifying) constituents of well-being, the viability of public reason as a means of political justification, the relationship between law and practical rationality, and the way that judges (should) reason in deciding hard cases. In addition to philosophy, Chris enjoys salsa dancing, surfing, and martial arts.
Chun Hin (Jeffrey) Tsoi
Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, Normative Ethics, Metaethics
BA Chinese University of Hong Kong, Philosophy
ct794@georgetown.edu
Jeffrey Tsoi is a Ph.D. candidate. Also a Georgetown Law J.D. graduate, he studies issues of contemporary American jurisprudence, specifically how democratic values should both inform the judicial interpretation of statutes and constitutions in America and transform the political institutions we now have.
Ari Watson
Ethics, Mental Illness, Gender Philosophy, Philosophy of Race
BA Dickinson College, Philosophy
aw1089@georgetown.edu
Ari’s central interest is currently in social philosophy. Ari has a passion for ethics and is specifically interested in de facto moral status in the United States as it relates to identity markers. This interest spans various aspects of identity including mental illness and gender.
He has a sustained interest in the philosophy of race and blossoming interests in metaphysics, bioethics, and social epistemology.
YF Xu
Philosophy of the Mind and Cognitive Science, Hermeneutics, Social Epistemology
BA College of Wooster
MA University of Chicago, Humanities
yx331@georgetown.edu
YF is from Shanghai, China, and joined the department in the fall of 2022. YF’s philosophical passion was born of a wish to articulate everything into a unified system. They have become aware that the establishment of such a system might neither be theoretically realisable nor practically important. What concerns YF now is how to bring effective disruptions to ideologies and meanwhile stay positive and active in life.
Outside of academics, YF is a culinary enthusiast who has served food to many people as well as won some competitions. You may also very likely find them working out at the gym or playing ball games.