Instructor of Record
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PHIL 24: Science and Pseudoscience, UCSD, Summer 2025
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Syllabus (in preparation)
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Course Description: Why do some people believe in Bigfoot, crystal healing, or red-light therapy? Dark matter is invisible but scientific; telepathy is also invisible but pseudoscientific. What distinguishes science from pseudoscience? This course begins with classic cases of pseudoscientific belief, from homeopathy to conspiracy theories, and moves on to issues like climate denialism and vaccine misinformation. But our goal isn’t to laugh at bad ideas. We ask deeper questions: Why should science be trusted? What does the replication crisis reveal about the scientific method? How do corporate interests — like those of Big Pharma or fossil fuel companies — shape what gets published, funded, or believed? How should non-experts evaluate scientific claims in a world of information overload? We’ll explore philosophical tools for evaluating evidence, identifying biases, and distinguishing reliable authority from manufactured doubt. You'll be invited to do hands-on investigations into real-world claims and develop your own criteria for demarcating legitimate inquiry from bullshit. BS or not BS, that is the question.
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I am a volunteer instructor for Corrupt the Youth, a philosophy outreach program. Topics I've taught include:
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The Problem(s) of Consciousness
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Abortion
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AI Ethics
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I taught a summer course on Philosophy of Physics: Spacetime for three consecutive years — 2019 (Xi’an), 2020 (Nanjing), and 2021 (Shanghai)— at Veritas Academy, a non-profit liberal-arts-education outreach organization based in China.
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Spacetime is my favorite subject to teach because it was also what led me to switch from an economics major to researching philosophy of physics. I used John Norton’s Einstein for Everyone as the main course material, which I recommend for anyone new to the subject.
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Two of my former students (then high schoolers) were later admitted to Oxford’s philosophy and physics program. One has since graduated and begun a Ph.D. in physics, working for LIGO. She told me that this very course set her on this wonderful journey. It was the most rewarding teaching experience I’ve had.
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Teaching Assistant
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I have diverse teaching experience across multiple departments, including Philosophy (UCSD), Data Science (UCSD), Physics (Columbia), and the Culture, Art, and Technology at Sixth College (UCSD). Below are the courses I served as a TA for:
Department of Philosophy, UCSD
PHIL 24: Science and Pseudoscience (Craig Callender) Winter’25
PHIL 55: Living in a Digital World (David Danks) Fall’24
PHIL 27: Ethics and Society (Reuven Brandt) Spring’24
PHIL 12: Scientific Reasoning (Karen Kovaka) Fall’23
Department of Data Science, UCSD
DSC 215: Statistical Thinking and Experimental Design (Yoav Freund) Winter’24
Culture, Art, and Technology, Sixth College Writing program, UCSD
CAT 3: AI Narratives (Romain Delaville) Spring’23
CAT 2: Asian Diasporas in Film and Media (Nguyen Tan Hoang) Winter’23
CAT 1: Un/Natural Environments (Phoebe Bronstein) Fall’22
CAT 3: Our Future Climate (Adam Burgasser) Spring’22
CAT 2: The Process of Music (Joe Bigham) Winter’22
CAT 1: Origins (Guillermo Algaze) Fall’21
Department of Physics, Columbia University
PHYS1111: Origins and Meaning (Brian Greene) Fall’19
Veritas Academy, Nanjing, China, 2020, PC: Guanhua Sun