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Teaching Statement
A small handful of great educators inspired me to overcome my difficulties as a firstgeneration college student underprepared for academic study. I too want to be a great educator
who inspires students of all backgrounds and skill levels. That is why I have continually pursued
teaching opportunities additional to those required of me. I tutored philosophy students
throughout my undergraduate education at Brooklyn College, and volunteered to take on
additional lecturing responsibilities during my coursework at Cornell. And although teaching just
one Ethics course a semester provides me with all the income I need via a graduate stipend, I
have taught additional courses for three consecutive semesters, including two Intro to Philosophy
courses at Ithaca College last fall, two Bioethics courses at Ithaca College this fall, and a new
interdisciplinary course called Discussions on Justice and Inequality that I co-designed with
Richard Miller in the Spring of 2016. Each of these courses attracted high enrollment. In many
cases we had to increase the classroom cap or add extra sections.
Students indicate that my classes are both challenging and highly rewarding. That is due
to several steps that I take to motivate students without compromising educational standards.
First, my pedagogical style is highly interactive. I make it clear to students at the outset that
attending my class is always a participatory endeavor aimed at developing a better understanding
of the relevant issues. I never 'just' lecture. We engage each other as a class. For example, on the
first day of my recent Ethics class, I asked students to explain seemingly paradoxical cases of
being pleased by pain, and being pained by pleasure. The discussion, gently guided, was fruitful.
By the time I introduced the distinction between pleasure as a sort of sensation and pleasure as a
sort of attitude (as in being 'pleased that'), I was merely offering a title for a distinction students
had themselves already sketched. In their evaluations, student consistently express that the
discussion-heavy lectures aid in learning outcomes. Two representative examples:
"The class discussions were fantastic. I found them incredibly engaging and they
significantly improved my understanding of the material."
"[Instructor Duggan] skillfully led the discussions, and not only helped students
understand the material, but brought students' own thoughts and ideas into the mix. I
loved talking about my own ideas and seeing how others reacted to the material. [He]
also created a great, comfortable, and stimulating environment in which to work."
A second way in which I motivate students is to do my best both in class and in one-on-one
interactions during office hours to discover each student's particular interests, aversions,
strengths, and weaknesses. That in turn helps me appropriately adjust assignments, the style of
class presentations, and sometimes the content of the course itself. I'll cite two examples.
During my Fall 2015 Ethics course, students felt strongly that trolley cases might indicate
something telling about our moral psychology. So I altered the syllabus to include a week of the
Prinz vs Hauser debate on the moral psychology of trolley cases. Students loved it. And it got
them excited about other ethical issues in the class. Perhaps most importantly, it offered students
a chance to not only explain the evaluative influence of their own diverse cultural backgrounds,
but also vindicate their unique judgments from the pernicious assumption, all to prevalent in
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philosophy classrooms, that the moral intuitions of the Great Philosophers somehow count more
than their own. Students came to see exactly why and how their unique moral intuitions matter.
Also, during my Intro to Philosophy course at Ithaca College, I found that students had
difficulty with essay-style questions. For some students, this was due to English being their
second language. For others, it was due to a lackluster high school education. This was pulling
down the class average below the performance level of which I felt my students were capable. I
feel it is essential that students have the opportunity to learn to write clear and persuasive prose.
So I altered the term paper assignment to allow students to work closely with me on multiple
drafts in order to help them improve their paper before submitting for a grade. The results were
great. I saw students who were incredibly self-conscious about their writing blossom into good,
confident writers. My experience teaching first-year writing seminars has been invaluable in this
regard. One student from my Ethics course writes,
"I believe my writing has improved due to the rigorous editing process and numerous
comments. Professor Duggan provided great constructive criticism and showed me how
to tailor my essays for specific audiences. Furthermore, he really helped me make my
essays more concise and precise. Not only has my writing improved, but my process has
as well, as Professor Duggan helped me transition to writing and editing bits at a time
rather than all at once (thanks to the sequential editing process)."
A third way in which I motivate students is that I connect each of the philosophical problems I
cover, no matter how arcane, to practical issues. For example, after covering free will and moral
responsibility, we have a class exercise in which we look at the free will-related mitigating
factors of whatever ongoing criminal trial is most interesting to students. While covering
personal identity, we look at how different theories predict drastically different answers as to
whether or not to honor the advance directives of those who have become severely demented.
This is tremendously helpful for my students' excitement and ability to engage with the material.
They see the usefulness of philosophy, an outcome that is especially important considering the
imperiled role of the humanities in academia. As one student from my Intro course writes,
"This course provided me with the ability to think in different, more effective ways. I was
able to apply my newfound knowledge to my other classes as well, furthering my work in
a lot of different areas."
Fourth, I keep student motivation high by explicitly creating assignments according to a
manageable sequence: First understand the position, then explore the arguments, and only then
make your case. For example, in my recent Intro course, one of the questions on a multiple
choice quiz only asks students to identify Cartesian Skepticism. One of the questions on an exam
later in the semester clearly states that thesis, and instead asks students to explain Descartes'
dream argument for it. One of the term paper topics asks students to focus primarily on critically
analyzing Descartes' dream argument. This task categorization helps keep students remain
focused without killing their motivation.
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I should note that, in general, my classroom personality clearly reflects my enthusiasm
for teaching. I arrive early enough to chit chat with students about popular cultural, campus
events, etc. Once class starts, I keep the energy high and the focus on thoughtful discussion.
Students indicate in their evaluations that my courses are enjoyable at least in part for this
reason. One of my Intro to Philosophy students wrote in their evaluation that what they found
most valuable about the course was
"The teacher! He was really great, really cool, really smart, really nice, really fun! [He]
made the course interesting and very informative!"
Another wrote that:
"This class taught me that if your instructor is passionate about what they are teaching,
grasping the concept is much easier..."
I'll close by mentioning that I take my role as an educator to include far more than just teaching
responsibilities. From the fall of 2012 till the present I have been the Resident Advisor to over 90
undergraduate residents of Cornell campus housing. Some of my responsibilities are purely
academic. I help revise CV's and resumes, supervise study hours, advise students when to drop
classes or switch majors, and I've written recommendations for members who were subsequently
admitted into prestigious graduate programs. But many of my responsibilities require a nuanced
and personal touch. I advise an internal Standard's Board on how to make difficult decisions as to
whether or not to discipline or remove members for their behavior. And I've had to identify and
respond to students' various degrees and kinds of psychological turmoil, including those that
result from substance abuse (with alcohol or study drugs), the unexpected death of a parent, and
even the shock and sorrow of a former member's suicide. It's been difficult at times. But I intend
to continue to remain active in student life, as I have found that it has helped me further cultivate
an understanding of student culture, a sensitivity to the unique challenges that students face, and
an ability to calmly address the most intense problems. These are skills that I value, and consider
essential to being a successful educator.
As my teaching dossier shows, the feedback from students and faculty is overwhelmingly
positive. My plan is to continue to cultivate my abilities. My hope is for an opportunity to do so.
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