Teaching

My approach as a teacher is a product of my many diverse educational experiences, from being "unschooled" as a teenager, to taking classes at a small-town community college, attending an unconventional liberal arts school, studying in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar, pursuing a PhD at a large R1 university, and teaching at a 200-student conservatory.

The core of my approach to teaching is captured in this quote from the ancient philosopher Plutarch:

"For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth."

In practical terms, this means creating pedagogical structures that allow students to discover through their own experience. It's not just a question of introducing information, but teaching students how to ask fruitful questions, chart and follow paths of inquiry, and find their way in the vast web of human knowledge.
Experience
From 2013 to 2023, I taught in the Music Studies department at the Curtis Institute of Music. During this time, I taught the second half of the four-semester music history survey sequence, covering 19th- and 20th-century music. In addition, I worked with my department chair to restructure the music history survey, creating a new "Music History I" class that served as a general introduction to doing research and writing in music-related fields. 

I also taught electives at the Curtis Institute, many of which were the first of their kind at the school, including "The Legacy of Julius Eastman" (2020), "Musical Improvisation in Theory and Practice" (2022), and "Introduction to Electronic Sound Synthesis" (2023).

I am currently (since 2025) lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, where I teach a first-year seminar called "Music and the Exploration of Consciousness." This course is an interdisciplinary investigation of music from the standpoint of its effects on us as listeners, performers, and creators. Building on research from fields such as musicology, anthropology, aesthetics, psychology, and neuroscience, the course asks what music can tell us about the phenomenon of mind. We also augment our thinking with experiential learning sessions led by guest facilitators, including activities such as drum circles and guided musical meditations.

Resources
Below are a few of the readings that that have helped orient and inspire me as a teacher.