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Graduate Students

Office Assignments effective 10/11/23

  • Dallas Amico-Korby

    Dallas Amico-Korby

    damico@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0446

    M.A. Philosophy, Bowling Green State University 

    I work primarily in epistemology, metaethics, and the philosophy of technology. You can find more about me and my research at https://www.dallasamico-korby.com/.

  • Javier Medina Barrientos

    Javier Medina Barrientos

    jmb224@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0438

    B.A. Philosophy, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2017
    M.A. Philosophy of science, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2021

    My research interests lie at the intersection of philosophy of science, history and philosophy of astronomy, and the epistemology of measurement. I'm also drawn to issues concerning scientific progress and rationality, and scientific knowledge production processes.

  • Moraima Arias Bejarano

    Moraima Arias Bejarano

    moarias@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0469

    B.A. Philosophy-University of the Pacific
    M.A. Philosophy- San José State University

    Interests: Mexican Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy and History of Philosophy

  • Andrew Bollhagen

    Andrew Bollhagen

    abollhag@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0435

    B.A. University of California, Irvine
    M.A. California State University, Long Beach
    Pre-Doctoral Research Associate, Mississippi State University

    Interests are: General Philosophy of Science, Practice-oriented Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Cell Biology (in particular "molecular motors"), Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Psychology, and Philosophy of Neuroscience.

  • Zack Brants

    Zack Brants

    zbrants@ucsd.edu 

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0429

    B.A. Philosophy, Computer Science, University of Washington (2016)

    My research mainly focuses on Plato and Aristotle’s moral psychology and ethics. I am particularly interested in understanding how their conceptions of anticipatory pleasure and anticipatory pain inform their views on desire, emotion, and virtue. I also attempt to trace the extent to which Aristotle engages with, and departs from, Plato on these issues.

  • Haggeo Cadenas

    Haggeo Cadenas

    hcadenas@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0446

    B.A in Psychology from Northern Arizona University
    M.A in Philosophy from Arizona State University

    I’m working on cultural evolutionary theory and how to develop an evolutionary evolutionary epistemology from it. Other interestes include philosophy of psychedelics, expressive and instrumental accounts of epistemology, and philosophy of religion.

  • Weixin Cai

    Weixin Cai

    w3cai@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0441

    B.A. Philosophy, Renmin University of China
    M.A. Philosophy, Simon Fraser University

    Interests: topics related to causation and explanation in various areas including general philosophy of science, philosophy of social science, metaphysics, and ethics; theoretical virtues in scientific, metaphysical, and moral theories

  • Patricio Alonso Ávila Cárdenas

    Patricio Alonso Ávila Cárdenas

    pavilacardenas@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0438

    B.S., Physics, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2018)
    M.A., Philosophy of Science, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2021)

    My primary research interests are the philosophy of physics and the metaphysics of science. I am interested in the problems of measurement and ontology in quantum theory, the problem of the arrow of time, and the issue of the peaceful coexistence between quantum mechanics and relativity.

  • Aaron Chipp-Miller

    Aaron Chipp-Miller

    achippmi@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0432

    B.A. Philosophy, UC San Diego (2020)

    I am interested in theories of equality in political philosophy, animal ethics, and decision making under normative uncertainty.

  • Daniel Cohen

    Daniel Cohen

    djcohen@ucsd.edu 

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0430

    B.A. Philosophy and German Literature and Cultural History, Columbia University (2020)

    I have broad interests in the history of philosophy. I am especially interested in ancient philosophy (particularly Aristotle), the Kantian tradition, and twentieth century phenomenology. Within the history of philosophy, I am interested in issues pertaining to metaphysics and philosophy of mind.

  • Kathleen Connelly

    Kathleen Connelly

    kaconnelly@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0438

    B.A. Philosophy, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

    My research interests are in ethics and science studies. In particular, I’m interested in questions about moral responsibility motivated by engagement with empirical psychology and history of medicine. These interests have manifested in work on moral responsibility and implicit bias; my developing research includes work on whether moral responsibility and mental disability.

    When I’m not doing moral responsibility research, I’m interested in philosophy of language and feminist philosophy, by way of philosophical hobbies.

  • Samuel Delorme

    Samuel Delorme

    sdelorme@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room  0433

    B.A. UBC 2020
    M.A. UBC 2022

    Interests: Philosophy of action, moral psychology, agency over time
  • Tyler Farmer

    Tyler Farmer

    tfarmer@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0433

    B.F.A. Dance, California State University, Long Beach
    M.A. Philosophy, Tufts University

    I’m interested in questions about how we can be (more) effective at performing our intended actions. As such, I think about the limitations of our agency and how we can leverage our capacities for planning and automatization to optimize our effectiveness within those limitations. I also think about how oppression and privilege impact both our immediate and extended agency, and how we can successfully navigate the limitations imposed on our agency by our social positions.

  • Bosco Garcia

    Bosco Garcia

    jgarca@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0436

    B.A. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    M.A. University of Bristol

    Philosophy of physics, philosophy of neuroscience, history of science, and mathematics.

  • Juan Carlos González

    Juan Carlos González

    jcg050@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0435

    B.A. from Xavier University (2014)
    M.A. from the New School for Social Research (2017)

    My dissertation is on Kant’s doctrine of the organism. In addition to interests in Kant, I have research interests in Latin American philosophy, post-Kantian philosophy, and the history of the philosophy of science – though most of my work resides at the intersection of some or all of these areas.
     
    For more about me and my research, check out my website.

  • Julia Andrina Greig

    Julia Andrina Greig

    jgreig@ucsd.edu 

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0430

    B.A., Philosophy, Bryn Mawr College (2019)
    M.A., Ancient Greek and Roman Studies, Brandeis University (2021)

    My research explores biomedical ethics, with a specific focus on reproductive ethics and the metaphysics of pregnancy. I also examine ethical and metaphysical questions about life, death, and personhood. In addition, I am interested in ancient philosophical views on these subjects, especially the Presocratic and Hellenistic.

  • Min Heo

    Min Heo

    miheo@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0461

    B.A. Philosophy, Seoul National University (2015)
    M.A. Philosophy, Seoul National University (2017)

    Interests: Early modern philosophy, Kant's theoretical philosophy, Metaphysics, and Philosophy of language

  • Imani Howard

    Imani Howard

    ihoward@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0454

    B.A. History and Philosophy of Science, Stanford University
    B.S. with Honors, Molecular and Cell Biology, Stanford University

    As an MD/PhD candidate, my primary research interests are the philosophy of medicine, the role of race and identity in healthcare and the physician-patient relationship. My clinical interests are in psychiatry and primary care.
  • Alice Koga

    Alice Koga

    akoga@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0430

    B.A. Philosophy, with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of California Riverside

    My research interests include agency and moral psychology, as well feminist philosophy and philosophy of race.I am especially interested in where these fields intersect with social phenomena in places such as applied ethics, personhood, bioethics, philosophy of disability, and social philosophy broadly construed.

  • Huadian Liu

    Huadian Liu

    hul010@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0461

    B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
    MSc Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition, University of Edinburgh
    M.A. Philosophy, Tufts University

    I aim to give a good answer to the question “How is intentional experience possible?” that is informed by Brentano and Husserl, the functionalist tradition in philosophy of mind, and cognitive psychology.

  • Ying Liu

    Ying Liu

    yil065@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0454

    B.A. Politics and Public Administration, South China Normal University
    M.A. Philosophy, University of Houston

    Primary interests: ethics, social philosophy, agency, practical reason.
    Secondary interest: History of moral and political philosophy.
  • Dafna Mark - Ben Shabat

    Dafna Mark - Ben Shabat

    dmarkben@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0439

    B.A. Humanities and Arts, Tel Aviv University

    Early modern philosophy, especially Spinoza. Questions of individuality, substance mode relations.

  • Joseph Martinez

    Joseph Martinez

    jdm001@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0429

    B.A. Philosophy, UC Berkeley (2016)
    M.A. Philosophy, UC San Diego (2020)

    AOS: Metaphysics and Ethics. AOC: Latin American Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, and Philosophy of Science

  • Marcus McGahhey

    Marcus McGahhey

    mmcgahhey@ucsd.edu 

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0440

    B.A. Philosophy, University of Louisiana at Lafayette 
    M.A. Philosophy (Neurophilosophy Track), Georgia State University

    My areas of interest include philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and epistemology. I'm especially drawn to issues concerning perceptual experience, intuition, epistemic justification, and self-knowledge. In my free time, I enjoy watching films, listening to comedy, and writing music on my guitar.

  • Gabriel Nyberg

    Gabriel Nyberg

    gnyberg@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0432

    B.A. Theoretical Philosophy, University of Gothenburg (2017)
    MSc. Philosophy of Science, London School of Economics (2019)

    I'm broadly interested in the philosophy of science, objectivity, metaphilosophy, and foundational issues in any form of organized inquiry. In particular, I am drawn to issues in replication of scientific results, measurement, concept validation and epistemic transparency and public reason.

  • Joseph O'Brien

    Joseph O'Brien

    j3obrien@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0437

    B.S. Data Science and Philosophy, William & Mary (2023)

    My interets include issues in AI Ethics and related topics in the philosophy of science. Particularly, I'm looking to explore the problem of induction and causation in machine learning systems. I'm also interested in how the current technological landscape should inform our account of privacy.

  • Karina Ortiz Villa

    Karina Ortiz Villa

    kortizvilla@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0432

    B.A. Philosophy, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

    My primary research interests are in latin american philosophy and political philosophy (historical and contemporary) as well as the ethics of AI and its intersection with philosophy of law. My main project is on questions on self-determination during Spanish colonialism and the political philosophy of Bartolome de las Casas. I also am currently working on strategies for the ethical implementation of artificial intelligence in the law.

  • Subin Park

    Subin Park

    sup017@ucsd.edu 

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0471

    B.A. & M.A. Philosophy, Ewha Womans [sic] University, South Korea

    My primary research interest is in ancient Greek philosophy, primarily Plato’s and Aristotle’s moral philosophy and moral psychology. I also have interests in metaethics, particularly in questions related to moral judgment and moral realism/(non)-naturalism.

  • Faron Ray

    Faron Ray

    fray@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0433

    B.A., Fine Arts, University of the Arts London (2015)
    M.A., Philosophy, University of London: Birkbeck College. (2020)

    My primary research interests lie in moral and political philosophy with a particular focus on the philosophy of punishment and the criminal law. I also have secondary interests in the philosophy of social science, particularly in issues surrounding causation, explanation and social ontology.

  • Sam Ridge

    Sam Ridge

    siridge@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0446

    B.A. Philosophy and Economics (DePaul University)
    M.A. Philosophy (University of Houston)

    Interests: Ethics and moral psychology
  • Emiliano Salomón

    Emiliano Salomón

    esalomn@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0438

    B.A. Philosophy, Yale University

    My research interests are in the history of philosophy in Latin America (especially 20th century Mexico), German Idealism (especially Hegel), social philosophy, and aesthetics.
  • Louis Santoro

    Louis Santoro

    lsantoro@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0452

    Interests: Artificial intelligence, conflict studies, computational psychiatry, Greek philosophy

  • Ayoob Shahmoradi

    Ayoob Shahmoradi

    ayoob@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0429

    AOS: philosophy of mind, philosophy of language. 

  • Shelly Yiran Shi

    Shelly Yiran Shi

    yis007@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0436

    Undergrad: London School of Economics (LSE) BSc. Philosophy and Economics (2017)
    Masters: Columbia University MA. Philosophical Foundations of Physics (2019)

    Interests: Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Economics, Feminist Philosophy of Science
  • Ahmed Siddiqi

    Ahmed Siddiqi

    ahsiddiq@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0461

    B.A. Genetics, Rutgers University-New Brunswick 
    D.D.S. Texas A&M College of Dentistry

    M.A. Philosophy, University of Houston

    Primary Interests: Metaethics, Moral Psychology  
    Secondary Interests: Political Philosophy

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    On Yi Sin

    osin@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0439

  • Mika Smith

    Mika Smith

    ms223@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0471

    My interests lie at the intersection of the philosophies of science, technology (especially artificial intelligence), information, and psychology. I am also in the Science Studies Program and enjoy engaging in empirical research that aligns with my philosophical interests.

  • Daria Stepanova

    Daria Stepanova

    dastepanova@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0469

    B.A. Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

    Interests: Ancient philosophy, ethics of AI

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    Katelyn Stephens

    kmstephens@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0471

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    Noam Tiran

    ntiran@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0439

    B.A., Philosophy and Religious Studies, Shalem College, Jerusalem (2018)
    M.A., Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2021)

    I work at the intersection of the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, the philosophy of action, and moral psychology. I'm particularly fascinated by phenomena that don't fit snuggly in either "the space of reasons" or "the space of causes," like the immensely variegated category of unreflective human performances. Currently, I'm trying to develop a philosophical account of styles of agency and to see whether it can teach us some cool things about mind and action.

  • Bas Tönissen

    Bas Tönissen

    btonisse@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0439

    B.A. Liberal Arts & Sciences, University College Roosevelt (2013)
    MPhil Philosophy, University of St. Andrews/Stirling joint program (2017)

    My interests at the most general level are in the history of philosophy, moral psychology, and the self. More specifically, I work on Kant's account of radical evil as well as a number of related topics in his philosophy, such as (self-)love, (self-)forgiveness, and the metaphysics of agency. I am interested both in correct interpretation of Kant's thought, as well as in bringing to bear neglected lessons from his work on contemporary debates in moral psychology.

  • Richard Vagnino

    Richard Vagnino

    rvagnino@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0435

    B.M. Music, History, New York University
    M.M. Music Theory and Composition, New York University

    Interests: Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Neuroscience, Scientific Practice, Analogical Reasoning

  • Esraa Wasel

    Esraa Wasel

    ewasel@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0469

    B.A. Philosophy, University of Houston

    Interests: Ethics, Epistemology, Ancient Philosophy

  • Keyao Yang

    Keyao Yang

    K2yang@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0441

    B.A. Sun Yat-sen University
    M.A. University of Houston

    Currently, my main interests are in ethics and moral psychology, with a special focus on philosophical issues related with addiction. 

  • Jacob Zellmer

    Jacob Zellmer

    jzellmer@ucsd.edu

    Office: Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Arts & Humanities Bldg. Room 0440

    B.A. Biblical Studies, Azusa Pacific University
    M.A. Philosophy, San Francisco State University

    My interests include early modern philosophy, medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy, philosophy of religion, philosophy of race, and epistemology. My dissertation is on the relation between reason and religion in Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise.