My career plan is comprised of three sections: immediate after-graduation plans, long-term objectives, and a backup plan.
My immediate plans for after graduation include attending graduate school at a philosophy MA or PhD program. My top choices include Simon Fraser (MA) and Johns Hopkins (PhD).
Long term, I would like to teach and conduct interdisciplinary research in either a psychology or philosophy department. Eventually, I would like to earn an MA in psychology and participate in interdisciplinary research.
If graduate school in philosophy does not work out, I would like to either go to graduate school in psychology (counseling for children) or go to school to become a veterinary technician. If those plans do not work out, elementary school teaching is a viable alternative, although not a preference.
See the following tabs for the general body of my personal statement, along with the university-specific final paragraphs that I will use for each application.
knitr::include_graphics("sop.pdf")Furthermore, I believe that, given my career goals and interests, studying at Georgia State would be a beneficial research experience and would prepare me well for a PhD program in philosophy, especially given Georgia State’s strength in philosophy of mind. I would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Daniel Weiskopf on visual representation and behavior and cognition modeling, especially since my research interests and experience primarily involve visual perception. I am most interested in the university’s Neurophilosophy track, as it relates closely to my empirical and philosophical interests. I would also appreciate the opportunity to refine a competitive writing sample for future PhD applications, and I would be grateful to secure a position as a graduate student in Georgia State’s MA program.
Furthermore, I believe that, given my career goals and interests, studying at Simon Fraser would be a beneficial research experience and would prepare me well for a PhD program in philosophy, especially given Simon Fraser’s strength in philosophy of science and mind. I am especially interested in Holly Anderson’s research initiative in the integrated information theory of consciousness, among other faculty projects in the philosophy of mind and science. I am interested in Simon Fraser’s program because it offers a broad range of philosophical topics in preparation for PhD studies, as well as teaching experience. I am especially interested in the opportunity to refine a competitive writing sample for future applications, and I would be grateful to secure a position as a graduate student in Simon Fraser’s MA program.
Furthermore, I believe that, given my career goals and interests, studying at Virginia Tech would be a beneficial research experience and would prepare me well for a PhD program in philosophy. I am especially interested in the department’s specializations in philosophy of science and value theory. and I would be fortunate for the opportunity to write and refine a competitive writing sample for future PhD applications. I believe that the opportunity to study at Virginia Tech Philosophy would be both a productive and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, I believe that, given my career goals and interests, studying at the University of Florida would be a beneficial research experience and would prepare me well for a PhD program in philosophy. I am also aware of the positive culture within UF’s philosophy program, which is especially attractive as I intend to broaden my experience in philosophical teaching and writing. I am especially interested in UF’s strength in bioethics and philosophy of mind, and I would be fortunate for the opportunity to create and refine a competitive writing sample for future PhD applications. I believe that the opportunity to study at UF Philosophy would be a productive and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, I believe that, given my career goals and interests, studying at the University of Toronto would be a beneficial research experience and would prepare me well for a PhD program in philosophy. The MA program in Philosophy of Science is appealing because I believe that it would provide me with more research, writing, and teaching experience. Furthermore, I am especially interested in this MA track because of my interest in the philosophy of cognitive science. I would be fortunate to work with the variety of philosophers who work in fields related to my research interests, especially Mohan Matthen and Karina Vold. Accordingly, I believe that the opportunity to study at the University of Toronto would be a productive and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at Pittsburgh HPS would be a valuable research experience. I would appreciate the opportunity to work with Colin Allen, especially given his research interests in the intersection between animal cognition and artificial intelligence. I would be excited to pursue questions regarding the future of cognition modeling, ethics, and their applications to artificial intelligence and nonhuman animals. This summer, I took a course with Cailin O’Connor regarding modeling the social structure of science, and I would be excited to explore further applications of modeling in my graduate career. I would also be interested in working with John Norton, especially having read his updated manuscript of The Material Theory of Induction. My interest in methods of inductive inference was strengthened by my participation in Pitt HPS’s PSP3 in 2019, during which Dr. Norton and I discussed both his lecture regarding the applicability of thought experiments in science and several chapters from his new book. Also, the opportunity to study with the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition with Pittsburgh and CMU would be exciting, especially given its interdisciplinary research opportunities. Accordingly, the opportunity to study at Pittsburgh HPS would be a fortunate and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at MIT would be a valuable research experience. I would be especially grateful for the opportunity to work with E. J. Green, especially given his recent work regarding the perception–cognition relationship, and I am interested in working on related philosophical projects regarding visual perception and cognition. Furthermore, MIT’s strengths in philosophy of mind and psychology is especially attractive, as well as its encouragement of interdisciplinary research. Accordingly, the opportunity to study at MIT Philosophy would be both valuable and rewarding.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at Johns Hopkins would be a valuable research experience. I am especially interested in the research track for the philosophy of science and methodology, particularly in cognitive science and philosophy of mind. I am especially interested in the relationship between probability, causation, and cognition, and I would be fortunate for the opportunity to work with David Danks, especially given his recent work in computational cognitive science and modeling. This summer, I was able to study under Cailin O’Connor, who discussed modeling the social structure of science in her seminars. I am especially interested in pursuing modeling projects in cognitive science and related disciplines. Also, Richard Scheines’s work in statistics and causation is also interesting to me. I believe that the opportunity to study at Carnegie Mellon would be both a productive and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at Johns Hopkins would be especially valuable to my research interests. I am interested in working with Ian Phillips on questions related to temporal experience, memory, and consciousness. His research initiatives at the intersection between philosophy and psychology are closely related to my interests and experience in visual perception research. Chaz Firestone’s work on vision and cognition is also appealing, and I would be excited to learn from and potentially contribute to the work of the Perception and Mind Lab. My two-flash threshold thesis project in my university’s psychophysics lab was halted by Covid-19, but my experience with psychophysical research in my department has led me to be especially interested in pursuing interdisciplinary projects with Johns Hopkins’s philosophers of perception. I believe that the opportunity to study at Johns Hopkins would be both a productive and rewarding experience.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at Washington-St. Louis would be valuable to my research interests. I am especially interested in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program, and my interest in interdisciplinary research is consistent with the current work of associates in the PNP program. I am especially interested in studying under Casey O’Callaghan; his work in multisensory perception is closely related to the research questions that I am interested in (e.g., temporal experience, multimodal perception, and phenomenology of experience). I would also enjoy working alongside Carl Craver, as his influence in neuroscience and recent work in psychiatric genetics would foster exciting and fruitful research opportunities. My interests in the philosophy of perception and cognition have influenced my belief that the opportunity to study at Washington-St. Louis would be a productive and rewarding research experience.
Furthermore, given my career goals and research interests, studying at Duke would be valuable to my research interests. I am especially interested in the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine certificate, as well as the opportunity to work with Felipe De Brigard, given his recent work regarding morality, memory, and personal identity; since I am interested in questions regarding experience—especially the phenomenology of personal identity and its potential physiological correlates—I would consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him. Also, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s work in moral psychology (and the Moral Attitudes and Decisions Lab) is especially interesting and would provide fruitful opportunities for graduate research. Accordingly, studying at Duke philosophy, especially with those working in HPSTM, would be an exciting and valuable opportunity.
My CV is attached.
knitr::include_graphics("CV.pdf")My references are as follows:
S. Brian Hood (UWF Philosophy) shood@uwf.edu
Dr. Hood is my thesis advisor in the Philosophy Department, and I have worked closely with him throughout my 4 years.
Sally Ferguson (UWF Philosophy) sallyf@uwf.edu
Dr. Ferguson is the sponsor for Socratic Society (Philosophy Club); although I have not taken any classes with Sal, I have worked with her as a research assistant.
Nina Emery (Mt. Holyoke Philosophy) emery@mtholyoke.edu
I studied under Dr. Emery while at a summer program at Brown University Philosophy. She has agreed to write a recommendation letter based on my written work and participation in her course.
An additional reference: James Arruda (UWF Psychology) jarruda@uwf.edu
I have worked with Dr. Arruda both in his lab and during the summer 2020 semester for SURP.
For my reflection, I will address the APA Guidelines for Undergraduate Psychology, with examples of my work that meet each outcome.
My knowledge base in psychology is well demonstrated by the literature review I completed under Dr. Arruda’s supervision for SURP 2020. I have attached it here.
knitr::include_graphics("surp.pdf")My abilities in scientific inquiry and critical thinking are also demonstrated by my SURP 2020 literature review, but my capstone paper for Dr. Halonen’s Psychology of Film course demonstrates how I argue a thesis based on a review of empirical literature.
knitr::include_graphics("capstone.pdf")My communication skills are best demonstrated though my writing, demonstrated through this memo sent by my Positive Psychology project group to Dr. Halonen at the end of the course last year.
knitr::include_graphics("memo.pdf")My skills in project management are best illustrated by my work with my psychology capstone group. We were required to collaborate throughout the semester on individual projects, but we ultimately had to ensure that each of our topics was compatible with our genre and film choices. Our group submission is attached.
knitr::include_graphics("group.pdf")