PhD Students

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, history of philosophy (ancient and early modern), and 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 in 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 (new window)

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 fall 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.

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 (new window)

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 doing finish carpentry before relocating to the east coast. He likes to bike, run, rock climb, and when he can, waterski.

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 book stores, listening to new music, hiking and walking (often while listening to music, but rarely while reading!). 

Philipp Kremers

Metaethics, Normative Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Political Philosophy
BA University of Leipzig
MLitt St Andrews and Stirling Graduate Program in Philosophy
MSt University of Oxford
pk691@georgetown.edu (new window)

Philipp joined the doctoral program in 2019. His research interests include metaethics, normative ethics, philosophy of religion, and political philosophy. Previously, 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.

Sabrina P. Leeds

Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, and Philosophy of Disability
BA Tulane University
MA Tulane University
spl56@georgetown.edu

Sabrina started the doctoral program in the fall of 2020. Their research interests include ethics, social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and philosophical issues concerning disability, gender, sexuality, race, and technology. They recently completed the Georgetown Disability Studies MA/PhD Certificate in the spring of 2022 and they currently work as the managing editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Disability.

Before coming to Georgetown, Sabrina received both their MA in philosophy and their BA in philosophy and political economy from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Outside of philosophy, they enjoy making art, practicing photography, reading dystopian science fiction novels, cooking, hiking, and playing fetch with their dog, Whiskey.

Madeleine Léger

Epistemology, Philosophy of Language, Feminist Philosophy
BA Mount Allison University
mjl325@georgetown.edu (new window)

Madeleine is from New Brunswick, Canada. She started the PhD 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 honoured to share her life with Simone, a truly excellent cat (and philosofeline).

Penney Miyan

Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology, Phenomenology and Feminist Theory
BA Stony Brook University, Philosophy and Anthropology

Penney started the doctoral program in the Fall of 2020 and is interested in how phenomenology can be used as a tool to shed light on analytic questions in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. When not philosophizing, Penney enjoys being an EMT, volunteering with her local fire department, and powerlifting.

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

Clinical Ethics, Bioethics, and Feminist Philosophy
ecr73@georgetown.edu

Elisa is from the Seattle area, and began the program in 2018. Her research primarily focuses on the epistemology of testimony, bioethics, research ethics, and ethics of AI. Outside of her research, she enjoys rock climbing, video games, illustration, and cooking for friends. She is almost always listening to an audiobook – typically memoirs, fiction with a focus on embodiment or death, or the history of medicine and science.

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 PhD 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 has 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 (new window)

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 (new window)

Jeffrey Tsoi is a third-year student in the J.D./Ph.D. joint program. 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. He is also interested in the intersection of criminal law, prison law, and abolitionist theories.

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.

Molly Wilder

Philosophy of Law, Ethics, Social & Political Philosophy
BA Swarthmore College, Linguistics
MA Tufts University, Philosophy
JD Georgetown University Law Center
mbw40@georgetown.edu

Molly received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2016 and is currently working on a dissertation that brings together the professional ethics of lawyers, neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, and feminist theories of relational autonomy. She wants to know, how can lawyers promote the autonomy of their clients, and what does autonomy mean in that context? Beyond her dissertation, Molly has varied philosophical interests, mostly in the intersection between law and ethics, including: philosophy of tort law, children’s rights, privacy law, and ethical communication. When not philosophizing, Molly enjoys reading and writing children’s fantasy, finding places to eat great vegan food, and bad puns.

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’s philosophical passion has been surrounding the (very general) topic of human understanding. This passion has both a theoretical face and a practical face: with the former, it is spent on various discussions in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, hermeneutics, and social epistemology; while with the latter, it is concerned with living a good philosophical life – to philosophize virtuously with other philosophers, to learn from people from different social groups, and to practice the (theoretically arrived) ideology critiques in the material life.

Outside of academics, YF is a culinary enthusiast who has served many people with their food as well as won some competitions. You may also very likely find them working out at the gym or playing ball games.

Jacob Zionts

Moral and Political Philosophy, Bioethics
BA The George Washington University
MLitt, St Andrews and Stirling Graduate Programme in Philosophy
jmz58@georgetown.edu (new window)

Jacob grew up near Chicago and joined the program in August of 2022. He is currently interested in the relationship between climate change and reproductive ethics and in broader issues pertaining to embodiment, gender, disability, race, and technology.

Before coming to Georgetown, Jacob was a predoctoral fellow at the NIH Department of Bioethics where he spent most of his time thinking about the relationship between population ethics, reproductive healthcare, and priority setting. He studied for an MLitt in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy at the University of St Andrews and the University of Stirling from 2019-2020 and graduated from the George Washington University in 2019 with a BA in International Affairs and Philosophy.