I’m associate professor of philosophy at Deakin University, in Melbourne, Australia.
I’ve previously held fellowships at the University of Hertfordshire, the University of Copenhagen, and St Olaf College, Minnesota.
My work sits at the intersections of the Continental and Analytic traditions, with research interests in 19th and 20th Century European Philosophy, personal identity, narrative selfhood, moral psychology, death and remembrance, and philosophy of religion. A particular focus of my work has been bringing Kierkegaard into dialogue with contemporary analytic philosophy of personal identity and moral psychology, as well as exploring temporal and perspectival aspects of the question of selfhood.
I’m a regular contributor to New Philosopher, and my writing appears in outlets including Meanjin, The Conversation, ABC Ethics and Religion, and the Ethics Centre. I’ve also produced ABC Radio National documentaries for The History Listen and several episodes of The Philosopher’s Zone. I’m half of “The Philosopher and the Shrink” (alongside Rob Selzer) each month on Evenings with David Astle on ABC Melbourne.
I live in Melbourne with Jessica and our two daughters, and spend a lot of time in Central Victoria too. My hobbies include being bad at guitar, worse at octave mandolin, and having a variety of inadvisable pets.
Education
- PhD in Philosophy, University of Melbourne (conferred August 2006). Thesis: “The Concept of ‘Interest’ in Kierkegaard’s Moral Psychology”
- BA Hons., University of Melbourne, 1999 (conferred March 2000). Honors Thesis: “Willing, Choosing, Leaping: Self and Affirmation in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche”
- Postgraduate Certificate of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Hertfordshire, 2011
Positions Held
- February 2012-Present – Lecturer in Philosophy, Deakin University. Senior Lecturer from January 2015. Associate Professor from January 2018.
- July 2010- February 2012 – Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire.
- February 2008-March 2010 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Søren Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen, funded by (Danish Research Council for the Humanities).
- July-December 2007 – Kierkegaard House Foundation Fellow, Hong Kierkegaard Library, St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
- February-June 2007 – Tutor, University of Melbourne
- February-June 2003 – Tutor, University of Melbourne
- June 2002 – Stipendiary Summer Fellow, Hong Kierkegaard Library, St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
- August 2001- June 2002 – Tutor, University of Melbourne
Grants and Awards
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project “Digital Death and Immortality” (with Dr Adam Ruben, Leiden University), 2024-26 (DP240100432)
- Deakin University Research Seed Funding Grant for project “Whole Lives, Selves, and Time,” 2017
- Awarded Australasian Association of Philosophy Media Prize, 2014
- Awarded “Honorable Mention,” 2014 Lenssen Prize, American Association of Philosophy Teachers
- Deakin University Central Research Grants Scheme: funding for project “Online Interactions with the Dead,” 2014
- European Commission Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship: funding for research project “Selves in Time,” 2010-12
- Den Frie Forskingsråd for Kultur og Kommunikation (Danish Government’s Independent Research Council for the Humanities): funding for postdoctoral project, 2008-10
- Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship, University College Dublin (did not take up as Danish funding already accepted for the same project), 2008-2010
- Kierkegaard House Foundation Fellowship, Hong Kierkegaard Library, St Olaf College, July-December 2007
- Summer Fellowship, Hong Kierkegaard Library, June 2002
- TRIPS Travel Grant, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne, 2002
- Laurie Prize (Major) for second academic ranking in the Philosophy Pure Honours year, University of Melbourne, 1999
Appointments and Service
- Associate Head of School (International and Engagement), Deakin University (2022-24)
- Discipline Convenor, philosophy, Deakin University (January 2014 – December 2016 )
- Visiting Research Fellow, University of Hertfordshire (October 2012- )
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK)
- Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne (2007-2014)
- Member of International Advisory Panel, Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook
- Referee for journals including Inquiry, Continental Philosophy Review, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Philosophy and Technology, International Journal for Philosophical Studies, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Parrhesia, History of Philosophy Quarterly, Celebrity Studies, Studies in Christian Ethics, Southern Journal of Philosophy and American Philosophical Quarterly.
- Referee for Continuum Books
- Co-convener of Kierkegaard In the World conference, Australian Catholic University, August 2013
- Co-convener of Narrative, Identity and the Kierkegaardian Self conference, University of Hertfordshire, November 2011.
- Co-convener of “Kierkgaard and Death” Symposium, St Olaf College, December 2007
- Member of Conference Organizing Committee, “Kierkegaard and Asia” (1st International Conference of the Kierkegaard Society of Japan), held at Ormond College, University of Melbourne, December 2005