ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS AND AFFILIATIONS

University of Western Ontario – Philosophy Department

• Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, 2017-present
• Assistant Professor, University of Western Ontario, Department of Philosophy, 2012-2017
• Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007-2012

Other Affiliations at Western

• TRanslational Initiative to DE-Risk NeuroTherapeutics (TRIDENT) Research Management Committee, Western University (in collaboration with McGill University, University of Toronto, & CAMH)
• Associate Member, Western Institute for Neuroscience, 2022-present
• BrainsCAN Engaged Researcher, 2021-present
• Associate Member, Brain and Mind Institute, 2012-2021

Professional Appointments

• Elected Member, Governing Board, Philosophy of Science Association, 2022-2026
• Associate Editor, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2023-2026

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Philosophy of Neuroscience, Philosophy of Scientific Experimentation, Philosophy of Psychiatry

AREAS OF COMPETENCE
History and Philosophy of Psychology, Epistemology, Bioethics, Cognitive Neurobiology  

EDUCATION

Ph.D. History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, 2007

Graduate Student Trainee Certificate, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), University of Pittsburgh, 2007

M.S. Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, 2003

M.A. History and Philosophy of Science, 2001

B.A. Philosophy (with high honors) Clark University, 1995

Certificat Practique de Langue Française, CIEF, Dijon, 1994

PUBLICATIONS

Peer Reviewed Journal Publications 

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

25. Sullivan, Jacqueline & Gold, E. Richard. (forthcoming). Exploring Regulatory Flexibility to Create Novel Incentives to Optimize Drug Discovery, Frontiers in Medicine-Regulatory Science.

24. (2023). Arnaud, Sarah, Sullivan, Jacqueline, MacKinnon, Amy, Boddell, Lindsay. “Teasing Apart the Roles of Interoception, Emotion, and Self-Control in Anorexia Nervosa”, Review of Philosophy and Psychology special issue on The Anorexia Enigma.

23. (2023) Who’s in and Who’s Out of the Cognitive Kinding Game? Commentary on Muhammad Ali Khalidi’s Cognitive Ontology: Taxonomic Practices in the Mind -Brain Sciences. Mind & Language.

22. (2022) Novel Tool Development and the Dynamics of Control: The Rodent Touchscreen Operant Chamber as a Case Study. Philosophy of Science

21. (2022) The Concept of Practice Frameworks in Correctional Psychology: A Critical Appraisal. Aggression and Violent Behavior.

20. (2021) Understanding Stability in Cognitive Neuroscience Through Hacking’s Lens. Philosophical Inquiries IX, 1: 189-208.

19. (2021). Jacqueline A. Sullivan, Julie R. Dumont, Sara Memar, Miguel Skirzewski, Jinxia Wan, Maryam H. Mofrad, Hassam Zafar Ansari, Yulong Li, Lyle Muller, Vania F. Prado, Marco A.M. Prado, Lisa M. Saksida, Timothy J. Bussey. New Frontiers in Translational Research: Touchscreens, Open Science, and The Mouse Translational Research Accelerator Platform (MouseTRAP). Genes, Brain and Behavior.

18. (2020). Mattu, J. and Sullivan, J. Classification, Kinds, Taxonomic Stability, and Conceptual Change, Aggression and Violent Behavior.

17. (2019). Ward, T., Durrant, R. & Sullivan, J. Understanding Crime: A Mutilevel Approach. Psychology, Crime & Law, 25(6): 709-711.

16. (2019). Achieving Cumulative Progress in Understanding Crime:  Some Insights from the Philosophy of Science. Psychology, Crime & Law, 25(6): 561-576.

15. (2018) Optogenetics, Pluralism and Progress. Philosophy of Science 85: 1090-1101.

14. (2018) Panichi, R., Dieni, C., Sullivan, J., Faralli, M., Contemori, S., Biscarini, A., Petterossi, V. 17 beta- estradiol synthesis modulates cerebellar dependent motor memory formation in adult male rats. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 155: 276-286. (Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074742718301941)

13. (2018) Baron, E. & Sullivan, J. Judging Mechanistic Neuroscience:A preliminary conceptual-analytic framework for evaluating scientific evidence in the courtroom. Psychology, Crime and Law 24(3): 334-351.

12. (2018) Martin, C., J. Sullivan, J. Wright, S. Köhler. How landmark suitability shapes recognition memory signals for objects in the medial temporal lobes. Neuroimage.

11. (2017) Cristina Dieni, Aldo Ferraresi, Silvarosa Grassi, Vito Enrico Pettorossi Jacqueline Sullivan and Roberto Panichi. Acute Inhibition of Estradiol Synthesis Impacts Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Adaptation and Cerebellar Long-Term Potentiation in Male Rats. Brain Structure and Function: 223(2), 837-850.

10. (2017) Coordinated Pluralism as a Means to Facilitate Integrative Taxonomies of Cognition. Philosophical Explorations Issue 2: 129-145.

9. (2016) Construct Stabilization and the Unity of the Mind-Brain Sciences. Philosophy of Science 83: 662-673.

8. (2016) Response to Commentary on Stabilizing constructs through collaboration across different research fields as a way to foster the integrative approach of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00448/full

7. (2016) Stabilizing constructs through collaboration across different research fields as a way to foster the integrative approach of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00309/full        

6. (2015) “Qualitative Assessment of Self-Identity in Advanced Dementia”, Sadvhi Bahtra, Jacqueline Sullivan, Beverly Williams, David Geldmacher. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. doi: 10.1177/1471301215601619

5. (2010) “Reconsidering Spatial Memory and the Morris Water Maze”, Synthese 177(2): 261-283.

4. (2010) “Realization, Explanation and the Mind-Body Relation”, Editor’s Introduction. Synthese 177(2): 151-164.

3. (2010) “A Role for Representation in Cognitive Neurobiology”, Philosophy of Science 77(5): 875-887.

2. (2009) “The Multiplicity of Experimental Protocols: A Challenge to Reductionist and Non-Reductionist Models of the Unity of Neuroscience”, Synthese 167:511-539.

1. (2008) “Memory Consolidation, Multiple Realization and Modest Reductions”, Philosophy of Science 75(5): 501-513.

Peer-Reviewed Contributions to Anthologies

10. (Forthcoming 2023) w/Jaipreet Mattu, “Serotonergic psychedelics in translational research: Addressing epistemic challenges from bench to bedside” Philosophical Perspectives on the Psychedelic Renaissance, Chris Letheby and Philip Gerrans, eds. OUP.

9. (2017) ‘Mechanisms in neuroscience’, with Catherine Stinson, for the Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Mechanisms, Stuart Glennan and Phyllis Illari (eds.)

8. (2017) “Long-term potentiation: One Kind or Many?” in Eppur si muove: Doing History and Philosophy of Science with Peter Machamer. Marcus Adams, Zvi Biener, Uljana Feest and Jackie Sullivan, eds., Springer.

7. (2016) “Models of Mental Illness” in The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Medicine, Harold Kincaid, Jeremy Simon and Miriam Solomon (eds.), New York: Routledge, 455-464.

6. (2016) “Neuroscientific Kinds Through the Lens of Scientific Practice” in Natural Kinds and Classification in Scientific Practice, Catherine Kendig (ed.), New York: Routledge, pp. 47-56.

5. (2015) “Experimentation in Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Neurobiology” In The Handbook of Neuroethics(Springer), Jens Clausen and Neil Levy (Eds)., Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 31-47.

4. (2014) “Is the Next Frontier in Neuroscience a Decade of the Mind?” In Brain Theory, Charles Wolfe, Ed.(Palgrave-MacMillan), pp. 45-67.

3. (2014) “Classifying Psychopathology: Mental Kinds and Natural Kinds” (w/Harold Kincaid). In Classifying Psychopathology: Mental Kinds and Natural Kinds, Harold Kincaid and Jacqueline A. Sullivan, Eds. (MIT Press), pp. 1-10.

2. (2014) “Stabilizing Mental Disorders: Prospects and Problems” in Classifying Psychopathology: Mental Kinds and Natural Kinds, Harold Kincaid and Jacqueline A. Sullivan, Eds. (MIT Press), pp. 257-281.

1. (2010) (w/Harold Kincaid) “Challenges to Medical Models of Addiction”, What is Addiction?, Harold Kincaid, Don Ross, David Spurrett and Peter Collins, (eds.), MIT Press. kincaidsullivan-05062015111110

Other published contributions – non-refereed

2. (2020) “Are There Model Behaviors for Model Organism Research?” – Commentary on Nicole Nelson’s Model Behavior(Chicago 2018). Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

1.(2015) “Knowing Yourself — and Your Mental States — in New Ways” Western News Big Ideas Issue , May 7, 2015. http://news.westernu.ca/2015/05/big-ideas-knowing-yourself-and-your-mental-state-in-new-ways/

Unpublished Papers

(2001) “Leveling Reduction” w/Peter Machamer. (available on Phil-Sci Archive)

EDITED VOLUMES

Classifying Psychopathology: Mental Kinds and Natural Kinds, Harold Kincaid and Jacqueline A. Sullivan, Eds. (2014, MIT Press)

Eppur si muove: Doing History and Philosophy of Science with Peter Machamer. Marcus Adams, Zvi Biener, Uljana Feest and Jackie Sullivan, Eds. (2017, Springer).

GRANTS FUNDED/AWARDS

Including Psychiatrized Communities in Philososophy of Psychiatry – SSHRC Insight Development Grant – $72,202 – Awarded to Anne-Marie Gagne Julien & Sarah Arnaud with Co-applicants: Lindsay Boddell (Psychology -Western), Amandine Catala (Philosophy-UQAM), Luc Faucher (Philosophy-UQAM), Phoebe Friesen (Philosophy-McGill), Ian Gold (Philosophy-McGill), Mona Gupta (Universite de Montreal), Erin Soros (Simon Frasier – English), & Jackie Sullivan (Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western)

Graham and Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities – Academic year 2022-2023

Rotman Institute of Philosophy Research Award (2021)
PROJECT TITLE: Integrating Empirical Evidence and Philosophical Considerations in the Study of Serotonergic Psychedelics  
Primary Investigators: Jaipreet Mattu (PhD candidate); Jacqueline Sullivan (Supervision) Awarded to support Jaipreet Mattu’s philosophical research on serotonergic psychedelics – $3,000

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant – The Philosophy of Neuroscience in Practice (April 2020 – April 2023) – $94,276

Western Strategic Support for Tri-Council Success Grant – The Philosophy of Neuroscience in Practice (Dec 2019 – April 2020) – $25,000

Faculty Research Development Travel Fund Grant (Summer 2019) – Creating Epistemically Successful Research Infrastructures: Translational Cognitive Neuroscience as a Case Study – $2,500 

Dean’s Travel/Research Grant (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)

Faculty Research Development Fund Grant (Summer 2017) – Tracking Conceptual Change in the Sciences of the Mind and Brain and the Implications for Precision Medicine – $5,700

Rotman Institute of Philosophy Research Award (2016-2017)
PROJECT TITLE: Neuroscientific Contributions to the Understanding of Epistemic Feelings
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS:  Stefan Köhler, Brain and Mind Institute (Co-Principal Investigator); Jackie Sullivan, Rotman Institute of Philosophy (Co-Principle Investigator); Jaclyn Lanthier, Rotman Institute of Philosophy (Graduate Research Assistant)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Connection Grant Award
for Rethinking the Taxonomy of Psychology Workshop (2016)
PRIMARY INVESTIGATORS: Michael Anderson, Jacqueline Sullivan

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Award
for Rethinking the Taxonomy of Psychology Workshop (2016)
PRIMARY INVESTIGATORS: Michael Anderson, Jacqueline Sullivan

Research Western Award
for Rethinking the Taxonomy of Psychology Workshop (2016)
PRIMARY INVESTIGATORS: Michael Anderson, Jacqueline Sullivan

Rotman Institute of Philosophy Award
for Rethinking the Taxonomy of Psychology Workshop (2016)
PRIMARY INVESTIGATORS: Michael Anderson, Jacqueline Sullivan

Faculty Research Development Fund – Conference Travel Grant (2015)

Rotman Institute Catalyst Fund Grant (2013-2014)
PROJECT TITLE: The Epistemic Status of fMRI Technology and Data Analysis Techniques
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS: Jacqueline Sullivan (Principal Investigator); Stefan Köhler (Co-Principal Investigator); Jessey Wright (graduate student); Chris Martin (graduate student)

Andrew Mellon Pre-doctoral Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, September 2006—May 2007.

Provost’s Development Fund Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh, September 2004—May 2005.

National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) Program Fellowship, January 2002–January 2004.

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS*

Presentations

Bridging Translational Gaps Through Open Science Partnerships. Initiative for Translational Neuroscience/TRanslational Initiative to DeRisk NeuroTherapeutics Meeting (ITN/TRIDENT), McGill University, Montreal, QC, November 6-8, 2023. (with Richard Gold)

Exploring Regulatory Flexibility to Optimize Drug Discovery. Canadian Network for Learning Healthcare Systems and Cost-Effective ‘Omics Innovation (CLEO) 2nd Workshop for Learning Healthcare Systems: Policy and RWE frameworks for life-cycle technology assessment, McGill University, Montreal QC, October 11-12, 2023.

Unraveling Discovery Dynamics in Open Science Partnerships. Explanation and Complexity in Biology & Psychology: A Workshop in Honour of Bob Richardson. University of Cincinnati, Department of Philosophy, September 21-22, 2023.

Kinding Cognition: Commentary on Muhammad Ali Khalidi’s Cognitive Ontology: Taxonomic Practices in the Mind-Brain Sciences Book Symposium, APA Pacific San Franscisco, April 5-10, 2023.

Collaborations at the Intersection of Naturalism and Epistemology of Science with a Focus on Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, The New Naturalism Workshop, WIKO Berlin, Oct. 13-14, 2022.

Making Explicit How Conceptual-Theoretical Frameworks Shape Discovery in Neuroscience, Nencki School of Ideas in Neuroscience, Nencki Open Lab, Warsaw, Poland, July 1-July 8, 2022.

Novel Tool Development, Exploratory Experimentation and the Dynamics of Control: The Rodent Touchscreen Operant Chamber as a Case Study, Florida State University, April 8, 2022. [virtual]

Epistemic Communities as Knowledge Drivers in Neuroscience. Summer Seminar Series in Neuroscience and Philosophy (SSNAP) Closing Conference 2021, Duke University [via Crowdcast], June 4-5, 2021. [Invited by Felipe De Brigard]

Touchscreens, Open Science and the Epistemic Community. Minds, Models and Mechanisms: New Directions in Philosophy of Psychiatry Workshop, Saarland University, [via Zoom], April 21-23, 2021. [Invited by Lena Kastner]

Touchscreens, Open Science and the Epistemic Community. touchscreencognition.org’s Mouse Translational Research Accelerator Platform (MouseTRAP) Seminar Series. Western University, London, ON, February 23, 2021. [Invited by Julie Dumont]

Cognitive Ontologies, Epistemic Communities and Coordinated Pluralism. The Problem of Cognitive Ontology: Implications for Scientific Knowledge. Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, November 5, 2020. [Invited by Adina Roskies]

Exploring the dynamics of novel experimental paradigm development: The Rodent Touchscreen Operant Chamber as a Case Study. Workshop on Continuity, Improvement and Innovation in Experimental Methodology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, October 30-31, 2019. [Invited by Jutta Schickore]

Creating Epistemically Successful Research Infrastructures: Translational Cognitive Neuroscience as a Case Study. CLMPST2019: 16TH INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS OF LOGIC, METHODOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, August 5-10, 2019, Prague, CZ. [Invited by Hanne Andersen]

Translational Cognitive Neuroscience and Collaborative Kinds. Natural Kinds in Cognitive Science Workshop, June 26-29, 2019, York University, Toronto, Ontario.[Invited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi]

“Optogenetics, Pluralism and Progress”, Neural Mechanisms Online 2019 Speakers’ Series, May 3, 2019. https://www.neuralmechanisms.org/webinarseries2019.html

“Coordinating Scientific Perspectives in Experimental Contexts: Lessons from Translational Cognitive Neuroscience and the RDoC Project”, Culture, Brain and Mind Program, McGill University, Montreal, QC, (March 28, 2019).

“Philosophy of Neuroscience as a Complement to Neuroscience”, Brain and Mind Institute, Western Interdisciplinary Research Building, London, ON. (March 1, 2019).

“Coordinated Pluralism and Cumulative Neuroscience”. Understanding Replication Across the Sciences. Rotman Institute of Philosophy’s Annual Conference. Rotman Institute, University of Western Ontario. London, ON. (October 12-14, 2018).Video of talk

“Translational Cognitive Neuroscience: How Do We Learn From Animals?” Alumni Lecture, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA, March 15, 2018)

“Extraordinary” Cognitive Science in an Era of Novel Tool Development and Big Data. Cognitive Science Program and Philosophy Department, Indiana University (Bloomington, IN, September 29, 2017)

Coordinated Pluralism as a Means to Facilitate Integrative Taxonomies of Cognition.

• Philosophy Department, McMaster University (Hamilton, ON,  March 17, 2017). [Invited by Sandra LaPointe]
• Cognitive Science Program, Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI. March 9, 2017). [Invited by Corinne Bloch] Video online: https://streaming.mu.edu/Watch/r9P6CpXw
• Operations and Cognitive Ontology Workshop. Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO. February 1, 2017). [Invited by Carl Craver.]

Explaining Mental Illness: Will a Single Explanatory Model Do? London Library Lecture Series. Langdon Public Library (London, Ontario. October 12, 2016).

The Replication Crisis in Science. Philosophy of Science Cafe. Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario September 30, 2016).

Experimentation and Mechanistic Explanation in the Mind-Brain Sciences. Causality in the Sciences of the Mind-Brain Conference, Aarhus University (Aarhus, Denmark, June 27-29, 2016).

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project: Can neuroscience revolutionize psychiatric classification?

• Neuroscience Graduate Diploma Program, York University (Toronto, ON, March 18, 2016).
• Philosophy Department, Clark University (Worcester, MA, September 24, 2015).
• Explanations of Cognition Workshop, University of Stirling (Stirling, UK, July 20-22, 2015). [Invited by Zoe Drayson]
• La Société de Philosophie Analytique, Invited Symposium on La philosophie de la psychiatrie (Montreal, QC June 2015). [Invited by Luc Faucher]

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of Neuroscience. Philosophy and the Cognitive Sciences Pre-SSPP Workshop at Loyola University (New Orleans, LA, April 2015).

Neuroscientific Kinds through the Lens of Scientific Practice. Southern Society for Psychology and Philosophy Annual Meeting, Invited Symposium on Natural Kinds (New Orleans, LA, April 2015).

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of the Mind-Brain Sciences.

• Department of Philosophy. University of Waterloo, (Waterloo, ON, February 2015). [Invited by Heather Douglas]
• Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University, (East Lansing, MI, March 14, 2014). [Invited by Dan Steel]

Is the Next Decade in Neuroscience a Decade of the Mind? Philosophy: Crossing Disciplines Undergraduate Conference, University of Western Ontario, (London, Ontario, March 2, 2014).

Construct Stabilization and Experimentation in Neuroscience.

• Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto, Colloquium Series. (Toronto, Ontario, January 29, 2014).
• University of Calgary. (Calgary, Alberta, January 24, 2014). [Invited by Megan Delehanty]
• Experimentation in Neuroscience Workshop, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh.(Pittsburgh, PA, November 22-23, 2013). [Invited by Mazviita Chirimuuta]

Integrating Psychology and Neuroscience: The View from the Philosophy of Experiment. University of Western Ontario’s Eleventh Annual Graduate Conference in Philosophy of Mind, Language and Cognitive Science.(London, ON, May 23-25, 2013).

Café Scientifique (panelist), Neuroscience Meets Psychiatry: the Promise of New Treatments. Just Us Spring Garden Coffeehouse, (Halifax, NS, CANADA. [Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Café Scientifique grant, Neuroscience Meets Psychiatry: the Promise of New Treatments (SCI 116810).], March 29, 2012). [Invited by Serife Tekin]

Promoting Mental Health: Challenges for Psychiatry and Neuroscience. Novel Tech Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, (Halfax, NS, CANADA. [Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Café Scientifique grant, Neuroscience Meets Psychiatry: the Promise of New Treatments (SCI 116810)], March 28, 2012). [Invited by Serife Tekin]

Reviving the Mind in Cognitive Neurobiology: Towards Perspectival Pluralism in the Experimental Context.

• Department of Philosophy and Center for Neurodynamics, University of Missouri-St Louis, (St. Louis, MO, March 2, 2012).
• Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario (London, ON, CANADA, January 31, 2012).
• Department of Philosophy, York University (Toronto, ON, CANADA, January 13, 2012).

The Place of the Mind in Contemporary Neuroscience. Department of Philosophy, Mississippi State University, (Mississippi, MS, October 21, 2011). [Invited by John Bickle]

The Place of the Mind in Contemporary Neuroscience. Neurophilosophy Forum, Georgia State University, (Atlanta, GA, September 30, 2011).

Linking Models of Cognitive Neurobiological Experiments to Explanatory Models of Cognition—A Fundamental Role for Mental States. Delaware Cognition and Neuroscience Workshop. University of Delaware, (Delaware, Maryland, September 16 &17, 2011).

The Absence of Mind in the Neuroscientific Study of Cognition. 2011-2012 University Honors Program First Thursday Lecture Series, UAB, Birmingham, AL. (September 1, 2011).

Obstacles to Naturalizing the Mind: Insights from the Philosophy of Experiment, Current Topics in Philosophy of the Human Sciences. (Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany, June 18-19, 2010). [Invited by Uljana Feest]

Learning and Its Representation. Workshop: Turtles All the Way Down: Philosophical Approaches to Minds, Brains and Multiplicity. (McMicken College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Philosophy, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, October 2008).

The Unity of Neuroscience from a Contemporary Philosophical Perspective. Haddin Humanities Lecture, (UAB, Birmingham, AL, September 2008).

Mind as Matter: Challenges for the New Physicalism. Philosophy Speaker Series, (Clark University, Worcester, MA, September 2008).

Testing the Limits of Neuroepistemology. 44th Annual Philosophy Colloquium (University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, May 2008).

The Multiplicity of Experimental Protocols: A Challenge to Reductionist and Non-Reductionist Models of the Unity of Neuroscience. Neuroscience and the Mind-Brain Relationship Workshop, (Centenary College, Shreveport, LA, October 2007).

Extending Mechanistic Claims Beyond the Neurobiological Laboratory. Workshop on Neural Mechanisms, Explanation and Reduction in the Neurosciences. (Center for the Study of Mind in Nature, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, September 2007).

Reliability and Validity of Experiment in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. (Philosophy Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham, January 2007).

Reliability and Validity of Experiment in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. (Philosophy Department, San Francisco State University, January 2007).

Presentations as Reporter

Improving Public-Private Partnerships to Accelerate Drug Discovery, McGill-Western Initiative for Translational Neuroscience (ITN) Symposium, McGill University, Montreal QC, November 7, 2023.

Public Outreach Presentations

Canadian Association for Girls In Science (CAGIS) Outreach Activity. (w/Melissa Jacquart, Phoebe Friesen & Shari Monner). University of Western Ontario (London, ON Canada, March 21, 2013).

Two Different Perspectives on Mind. Philosophy and Neuroscience Speakers Series. London Library (London, ON Canada, October 17, 2012).

Your Mind and Other Minds: A Discussion. Donaldson Correctional Facility, (Bessemer, AL, May 8, 2012).

Conference Presentations and Published Abstracts*

 “Reflections on Collaborations with Neuroscientists” as part of the SRPoiSE Cognate Society session: Engaging science with philosophy: Case studies, empirical data, and reflections on collaborations between philosophers and scientists. Philosophy of Science Association Bi-annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, November 10-13, 2022.

Novel Tool Development and the Dynamics of Control, Philosophy of Science Bi-annual Meeting, November 2021.

The Exploratory Character of Hypothesis Driven Experiments in Rodent Behavioral Neuroscience as part of Symposium: “Exploring the Senses of Exploratory Experimentation”, British Society for Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Exeter, UK, July 2022.*

What Kind of Kinds are Optimal for Causal Discovery in Translational Research? Causality discussion, Crowdcast follow-up to “Elucidating the Causality in Causal Brain Circuits: Theory, Methods and Applications” Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Conference  https://www.crowdcast.io/e/ohbm-causality, June 2020.

What Kind of Kinds are Optimal for Causal Discovery in Translational Research? Symposium, “Elucidating the Causality in Causal Brain Circuits: Theory, Methods and Applications” Organization for Human Brain Mapping Annual Conference, Online, June 2020.

Can Rodent iPads Revolutionize Our Understanding of Cognition?  Tool Development in Neuroscience: A Science-in-Practice Workshop, Pensacola Beach, FL, September 26-27, 2019.

Commentary on Thomas Polger and Lawrence Shapiro’s The Multiple Realization Book. Author Meets Critics Session, Pacific APA (Seattle, WA, April 2017).

Optogenetics, Pluralism and Progress. Philosophy of Science Association Bi-Annual Meeting (Atlanta, GA, November 2016).

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of Neuroscience. Philosophy of Science Association Bi-Annual Meeting (Chicago, IL, November 2014).

Batra S, Sullivan JA, Geldmacher DS. Qualitative assessment of self-identity in advanced dementia. Poster presented at the 13th Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (Boston, MA. July 2013).

Batra S, Sullivan JA, Geldmacher DS. Qualitative assessment of self-identity in advanced dementia. Poster presented at Dementia Care @AAIC: Translating Research to Practice (Boston, MA. July 2013).

Is Construct Validity Necessary for Mechanistic Explanations of Cognitive Functions? Symposium on Taxonomic Practices in the Scientific Study of Cognition: Do Valid Constructs Matter? Fourth Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Study of Science in Practice, (Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST), Victoria College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, June 2013).*

The Place of the Mind in Contemporary Neuroscience. (w/Floh Thiels), 2011 Annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting, (Washington DC, November 2011).*floh&jackiesfnposterversion2 floh 8nov11

Experimental Paradigms, Cognitive Functions and Realization. Realization, Multiplicity and Experimentation in Biology, Psychology & Neuroscience Workshop, (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, February 2010).

Medical Models of Psychopathology. Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable (Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, October 2009).

The Implications of Experimental Practice for Cognitive Models of Schizophrenia. Workshop on Natural Kinds and Classification in Psychopathology (University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, April 2009).

Challenges for Medical Models of Addiction. (w/Harold Kincaid). 17th European Congress of Psychiatry. (Lisbon, Portugal, January 24-28, 2009).kincaidsullivan

Learning and Its Representation. Philosophy of Science Association Biennial Meeting. (Pittsburgh, PA, November 2008).

Reliability, Validity and The Experimental Process: A Neurobiological Case Study. First Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice. (University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands, August 2007). spsp2007_book.1

Memory Consolidation, Multiple Realizations and Modest Reductions. Philosophy of Science Association Bi-Annual Meeting, (Vancouver, BC, November 2006).

Reward, Reinforcement and the Dopamine System: Making Conceptual Transitions Across Multiple Levels of Organization. Neurophilosophy: The State of the Art, (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, June 2005).Poster2-2

The Study of Learning and Memory Then and Now: Conceptual Problems and Experimental Limitations. Sullivan, J.A., Machamer, P.K., Thiels, E. Learning and Memory Workshop, (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, April 2005).*SullivanMachamerThiels2005.pdf

The Study of Learning and Memory Then and Now: Evidence for Conceptual Change? Sullivan, J.A., Machamer, P.K., Thiels, E., Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, (San Diego, CA, November 2004).* posteriii

Differential Recruitment of ERK in two forms of LTP in the adult hippocampus in vivo. Sullivan, J.A., DeLoreia C.E., Kanterewicz, B.I., Thiels, E. Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, (New Orleans, LA, November 2003).*

Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase: A General Plasticity Kinase. National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training Program (NSF-IGERT) Symposium, (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, June 2003).

Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase: One Cascade, Two Forms of Synaptic Plasticity. Sullivan, J.A., Kanterewicz, B.I., Thiels, E. Learning and Memory Workshop, (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, April 2003).*

The Role Of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase in LTP vs. LTD in the Adult Hippocampus In Vivo. Sullivan, J.A., Kanterewicz, B.I., Thiels, E., Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, (Orlando, FL, November 2002).*

Levels of Analysis, Reduction and Neuroscience. (Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, January 2002).

Leveling Reduction with Peter Machamer. Pittsburgh-London Workshop in Philosophy of Biology and Neuroscience, (Birbeck College, London, England, September 2001).

Invited Commentaries

Invited commentary on Sarah Robin’s “Optogenetics and the Mechanism of False Memory”, Southern Society for Psychology and Philosophy Annual Meeting,(New Orleans, LA, April 2015)commentsonSara4

Invited commentary on Kathryn Tabb’s “Philosophy of Psychiatry after Diagnostic Kinds”, Early Career Scholars Conference in Philosophy of Psychiatry: Overcoming Mind-Brain Dualism in 21st Century Medicine, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA, November 21-22). (remotely)commentsonKatie3

Invited commentary on Robert Foley’s “Flexible Intentional Action as a Criterion for Consciousness”, Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, Brock University (St. Catherine’s, ON, May 2014).

Invited commentary on Serife Tekin’s “Self-insight in the Time of Mood Disorders”, Southern Society for Philosophy of Psychology (SSPP) Annual Meeting, (New Orleans, LA, March 2011).sspcommentsforserife1-2

Invited commentary, “An Ode to Peter Machamer”. Peterfest at The Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA, October 2009).

Invited commentary on Melody Dye, Michael Ramscar and Nal Kalchbrenner’s article “No representation without taxation: The costs and benefits of learning to conceptualize the environment”, Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP) Annual Meeting, (Bloomington, IN, June 2009).CommentaryonDye&colleagues

Invited commentary on Kenneth Aizawa’s The Biochemistry of Memory Consolidation and Multiple Realization. Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP) Annual Meeting, (Wake Forest University, Wake Forest, NC, June 2005).commentary

Invited commentary on Steven Quartz’s Toward a Developmental Evolutionary Psychology: Genes, Development and the Evolution of Human Cognitive Architecture. Proceedings of the Pittsburgh Workshop in Hist. and Phil. of Biology, (Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 2002). commentary on Quartz

Interviews

SCI PHI Podcast, interviewed by Nick Zautra (Indiana University, Philosophy) http://www.sciphipod.com/podcast/2018/2/28/episode-34-jackie-sullivan

Guest Lectures for Graduate & Undergraduate Classes 

Multiplicity of Experimental Protocols: A Challenge to Reductionist and Non-Reductionist Accounts of the Unity of Neuroscience. (published in Synthese 2008/2009) presented via Blackboard to Agnes Bolinska’s, Philosophy of Science Course at the University of South Carolina. March 16, 2021.

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of Neuroscience. Corinne’s Bloch’s (Marquette University) Topics in Cognitive Science course. March 8, 2018 (via Skype).

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of Neuroscience. John Schwenkler’s (Florida State University) Proseminar. February 19, 2018 (via Skype).

Construct Stabilization and the Unity of Neuroscience. (published in Philosophy of Science) Washington University in St. Louis, February 2, 2017 (Live),  [Carl Craver’s UG Memory course]

Multiplicity of Experimental Protocols: A Challenge to Reductionist and Non-Reductionist Accounts of the Unity of Neuroscience. (published in Synthese) Washington University in St. Louis, February 2, 2015 (via Skype). [Carl Craver’s UG Memory course]

Supervision

Current

PhD Students

1. Jaipreet Mattu, Integrating Empirical Evidence and Philosophical Considerations in the Study of Serotonergic Psychedelics (2018-present) 
2. Yi-Hsuan Kao, Experimentation in Rodent Behavioural Neuroscience, Philosophy of Neuroscience (2022-present)
3. Kardelen Kucuk, Dynamical Explanation (co-supervisor with Mike Anderson) 2021-present
4. Saher Panjwani, Philosophy of Mind and Neuroscience (co-supervisor with Angela Mendelovici)

Previous Supervisions

Postdoctoral Fellows

Dr. Sarah Arnaud, Philosophy of Psychology, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Philosophy of Mind https://saraharnaud.com (March 2022-July 2023; hired as Visiting Assistant Professor at Clemson University

PhD Students

1. Katrina Zmavc, Philosophy of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, 2021-2023 (left program with MA)
2. Jaclyn Lanthier, Understanding Interdisciplinary Corroboration: Lessons from a Review Paper in the Mind-Brain Sciences (PhD awarded October 2019; left the field)
3. Nicholas Slothouber, In Search of Psychiatric Kinds: Natural Kinds and Natural Classification in Psychiatry (PhD awarded October 2019; Currently an Instructor at Brock University, St. Catherine’s, Ontario) (Co-Supervisor w/Dennis Klimchuk)
4. Frederic Ismael-Banville, A Practical and Practice-Sensitive Account of Science as Problem-Solving (PhD awarded July 2018; left the field)
5. Alara Cameron (né Jessey Wright), Evidence in Neuroscience: Towards a Philosophy of Data Analysis (PhD awarded July 2017; Initial Placement: 2017-2019 National Science Foundation and Social Science and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University; Current: Senior Research Analyst, Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife)

MA Students

1. David Ceciilio, “Deflating the Extended Mind” (December 2023)
2. Katrina Zmavc, (co-supervisor with Dr. Tim Bussey and Dr. Lisa Saksida), “Synthesizing Biology and the Body:Toward a Pluralistic View of Depression and the Role of Participatory Research” (May 2023)
3. John Stark, “Dark Matter Detection Experiments: Constraining the Unknown” (August 2021)
4. Charles Baaker, “Constructing Gettier Intuitions” (Awarded August 2019; Currently a PhD Student in Philosophy at Western)
5. Helen Meskhidze, “Simulationist’s Regress in Laboratory Astrophysics” (Awarded August 2017; Currently a PhD student in Logic and Philosophy of Science at UC Irvine)
6. Robert Munro, “Significance Testing for a Post-Crisis World” (Awarded, summer 2017; Currently a student in J.D. Program at University of British Columbia)
7. Jaclyn Lanthier, “Epistemic Progress in Cognitive Neuroscience and [Cognitive] Neurobiology: How, If at All, Can Functional Triangulation and Integration Contribute to this Process?” (Awarded August 2014)
8. Phoebe Friesen, “For Accuracy and For Honesty: Embracing the Epistemic Side of Scientific Explanation” (Awarded August 2013; PhD in Philosophy CUNY, 2018; Current: Assistant Professor of Biomedical Ethics, McGill University)
9. Peter Verveniotis, “Intentionality, Function and Neural Mechanisms” (Awarded August 2013; Currently a PhD student in Philosophy at UWO)

BA Students

1. Nada Khalifa, Scholar’s Elective Student, Western University (September 2021-present) “The Morality of Using Epigenetic Editing as a Tool for Crime Prevention”
2. Jasmine Kang, Scholar’s Elective Student, Western University (August 2020-April 2021), Thesis: “Reproducibility in Biomedical Research: Examining the Development of Trastuzumab”
3. Sadhvi Bahtra (co-advisor w/David Geldmacher), “Qualitative Assessment of Self-Identity in Advanced Dementia”(Awarded 05/2014; Currently a Resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospitals in Ohio, USA)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Thesis Committees

(External Examiner)

PHD

(1) Kristopher Nielson (Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington), “What is Mental Disorder? Developing an Embodied, Embedded, and Enactive Psychopathology” [2020]

(2) Craig Roxborough (Philosophy, York University) “Putting the Folk Back in Folk Psychology: The Social, Cultural, and Moral Character of Folk Psychology” [2016]

MA/MS

(1) Alexander Pereira (Philosophy, University of Sydney), “On the Nature of Pathological Fear: Specific Phobia and Natural Kinds” [2021]

PHD – UWO

(1) Zili Dong (Philosophy) “Causal Variable Choice, Interventions, and Pragmatism” [2023]

(2) Cory Goldstein (Philosophy) “A critical examination of informed consent approaches in pragmatic cluster-randomized trials” [2021]

(3) Devin Duke (Psychology) “The Neural and Cognitive Basis of Cumulative Lifetime Familiarity Assessment”[2016]

(4) Chris Martin (Psychology) “Category-Specific Item Recognition and the Medial Temporal Lobe” [2015]

(5) Jennifer Milne (Psychology) “Seeing with Sound: Investigating the Behavioral Applications and Neural Correlates of Human Echolocation” [2014]

(6) Ed O’Neil (Psychology) “Representation of Faces in Perirhinal Cortex” [2013]

MS

(1) Gregory Brooks (Psychology) “Feeling-of-Knowing Experiences Breed Curiosity [2020]

(2) Margarita Maltseva (Psychology) “Congruent Familiar Size Relationships Decrease Size Contrast” [2015]

(3) Jordan Zunder (Neuroscience) “Dissociating the Psychoactive Effects of Distinct Cannabis Compounds in the Mesocorticolimbic Circuitry” [2014]

(4) Jeffrey Wong (Psychology) “Revisiting Working Memory: Are Domain, Process, and Global Models Mutually Exclusive, Nested or Orthogonal?: A revised model of neural mechanisms underlying working memory” [2014]

(5) Samantha Podebarac (Psychology) Are Visual Texture-selective Areas Recruited During Haptic Texture Discrimination? [2013]

Prospectus Examination Committees

(1) Daniel Booth (Philosophy), “Empirical Evidence and the Multiple Realization of Mental Kinds” [2013]

(2) Will Laufs (Philosophy), Agency and the Philosophy of Mind [2021]

(3) Zilli Dong (Philosophy), “Interventions, Causal Variable Choice, and Pragmatism” [2021]

(4) Todd Nagel (Philosophy), “Can a Functional View Help Make Sense of Non-Fundamental Spacetime?” [2023]

(5) Heather Champion (Philosophy), “On the Novelty and Robustness of Scientific Explanation with Machine Learning” [2023]

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

University Service, University of Western Ontario

• PhD Thesis Examination Chair, Ricky Kong, UWO – Biology [2020]
• Committee Member, Special Initiative Funding Program, BrainsCAN [2019-present]
• Faculty Member for Scholar’s Elective Program [2020-2021]
• MouseTRAP Executive Committee Member, Robarts Research Institute, October 2022-March 2024

Service in Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario

• Graduate Development and Placement Coordinator, Department of Philosophy, July 2021-June 2023
• Annual Performance Evaluation Committee, July 2015-July 2017, July 2020-2022
• Appointments Committee, July 2012-July 2015, July 2016-July 2017, July 2018-2023
• Chair’s Selection Committee, July 2019-June 2021, May 2023-present
• Workload Committee, 2021-2022
• Undergraduate Honors Mentoring Coordinator, July 2016-July 2017
• Advisor to Undergraduate Philosophy Club, The School of Thought, July 2012-July 2017
• Graduate Program Committee for Mind and Language, July 2012-present
• Graduate Program Committee for Philosophy of Science, July 2012-present
• Originator and Coordinator of Writing Workshop for BMI-Rotman Lab Associates Group, May 2015-September 2015
• Committee for Women’s Concerns, July 2014-December 2014
• Climate Committee, July 2018-July 2019
• Graduate Admissions Committee, Member, July 2012-June 2013, July 2018-July 2020, July 2023-present
• Undergraduate Outreach Committee, Member, July 2012-June 2013, July 2015-June 2016, July 2023-present
• Undergraduate Outreach Committee, Chair, July 2020-2021

Service in Rotman Institute of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario

• Associate Director, Research and Knowledge Mobilization, July 2022-June 2023
• Co-founder and co-coordinator of BMI-Rotman Lab Associates Program, September 2012-June 2013
• Philosophy and Neuroscience Committee, July 2012-June 2015
• Rotman Steering Committee, Member, July 2012-June 2015, July 2018-2022

Service in Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Organizer and coordinator of “Realization, Multiplicity and Experimentation in Biology, Psychology & Neuroscience” Workshop (February 2010)
• Faculty Advisor, UAB Philosophy Club (2009-2012)
• Library Acquisitions Representative (2008-2012)

Service in College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Undergraduate Neuroscience Mentor (2010-2012)
• Faculty Affairs Committee (2009-2010)
• Guest Lecturer for Science and Technology Studies Honors Program (Fall 2007; Fall 2009)
• Advisor for Science and Technology Studies Honors Program (Fall 2007, Fall 2009, Spring 2011-Spring 2012)
• Tenure and Promotion Committee (2007-2008)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Service to Profession

Associate Editor, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science June 2023-present

Elected Governing Board Member, Philosophy of Science Association, January 2022-December 2025

Committee Member, PSA’s Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholar’s Committee, January 2022-present

Council Member, International Society for the Philosophy of Sciences of the Mind 2022-2023

Committee Member, EPSA Conference 2023 Program Committee

Committee Member, PSA 2020/21 Conference Program Committee

Editorial Board, Oxford University Press – Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science 2021-present

Manuscript Reviewing

University of Chicago Press

Routledge

Refereeing for Journals

• Brain and Cognition
• British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
• European Journal of Neuroscience
• International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research
• Journal of Neurochemistry
• Minds and Machines
• Philosophical Psychology
• Philosophy of Science
• Psychology, Crime and Law
• THEORIA
• Theory and Psychology
• Studies in History and Philosophy of Science: Part C
• History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
• Synthese

Grant Reviewing

• Special Initiative Funding (SIF) Panel, BrainsCAN, UWO
• McGill Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives Knowledge Mobilization Program
• National Science Foundation, panelist
• Referee for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada

Past Service in Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh

• Teaching Assistant-Teaching Fellow Mentor (2006-2007)
• Referee, Annual Pitt-CMU Graduate Conference in Philosophy (1999)
• Saturday Workshop Coordinator, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC)(2002-2004)

Conference Chairing

• 5th International Touchscreen Symposium, University of Western Ontario, Open Science Symposium Panel, (London, ON, June 2023)
• Science and Reality Conference, University of Western Ontario (London, ON, October 2013)
• Session on Issues in Cognitive Science, Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice (Toronto, ON, June 2013)
• Session on Theory of Mind, Southern Society for Philosophy of Psychology (Savannah, GA, March 2012)
• Session on Mood, Southern Society for Philosophy of Psychology (New Orleans, LA, March 2011)
• Session on Philosophical Issues in Experimental Science, Southern Society for Philosophy of Psychology (New Orleans, LA, March 2011)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Western Ontario

Graduate Courses

The Cognitive Ontology Debate. On a widely held view of conceptual progress in understanding the mind, the mentalistic categories that ordinary folk use to predict and explain human behavior will eventually give way to scientific categories that more accurately track the mind’s underlying causal structure. Not everyone agrees, however, about which area of science—cognitive science, neuroscience, or evolutionary biology—is best positioned to carve the mind at its causal joints. Nor do they agree about what role, if any, folk psychology has to play in the process of causal discovery. There is also disagreement about whether the process of conceptual change will unfold in the same way for all mentalistic categories, or whether it may differ from one conceptual category to the next. Additionally, it is an open question where we should search for answers that may aide us in resolving these disputes. Should we consult philosophy of mind, history of science, philosophy of science, our current best empirical mind-brain sciences, or the actual conceptual practices of these scientists? It is also unclear what relationship the categories of different sciences will bear to each other. Will the taxonomies of psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology crosscut or be subject to direct mapping relations? Our aim in this course is to illuminate each of the main issues that are at stake in the cognitive ontology debate and emerge with some clarity about where we stand and what the implications are.  

Philosophy of Neuroscience. The aim of this course is to examine recent work in philosophy of neuroscience. Topics to be considered include: the nature and structure of neuroscientific explanation, the epistemology of neuroscientific experiment, the relationship between experimentation and explanation and the feasibility of integrating psychology and neuroscience.  

Philosophy of Scientific Experimentation. Science advances our understanding of the world and ourselves primarily by means of experimentation. Yet, what is an experiment? How do experiments differ across different areas of science? How do experiments produce knowledge? Are experiments always knowledge-generating? What differentiates a successful experiment from an unsuccessful experiment? Answering these questions by exploring historical, philosophical and theoretical analyses of experimentation in the physical, biological and mind-brain sciences will be the primary aims of this course.  

Undergraduate Courses

Critical Thinking. This course provides an introduction to basic principles of critical thinking and is designed to enhance the student’s ability to detect and analyze various forms of reasoning encountered in everyday life, academic and professional contexts. Topics to be covered include: argument identification and evaluation, fallacy detection, formal symbolization of arguments, deductive and inductive reasoning, the influence of social and psychological factors on our judgments, the structure of scientific reasoning, how to interpret statistics, theories of moral reasoning and how to assess claims put forward by the media and popular press. statistics, theories of moral reasoning and how to assess claims put forward by the media and popular press.  

The Scientific Search for the Mind. An evaluation of sciences attempting to understand the nature of the mind and its place in the physical world. Topics may include: phrenology & localization theory, physiology, neuroanatomy, gestalt psychology, experimental psychology, evolutionary psychology, psychophysics, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence testing and the nature of consciousness.  

Philosophy of Neuroscience. The aim of this course is to introduce students to the philosophy of neuroscience. Questions to be considered include: What constitutes an adequate explanation of a phenomenon (e.g., motor learning, vision, memory) in neuroscience? What assumptions inform neuroscientific research (e.g., is the mind nothing over and above the brain? Are mental processes simply brain processes)? Are the methods and techniques that neuroscientists use adequate for generating knowledge claims about the brain, central nervous system, cognition and behavior? In instances in which they are inadequate, can such methods and techniques be improved? How? What kinds of claims about the mind-brain relationship, free will and morality may be made on the basis of neuroscientific data? What is the relationship between cognitive neuroscience and cognitive neurobiology or “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches to the study of cognition and behavior? In this course we will address and aim to answer each of these questions, which should be of interest to students majoring in philosophy, psychology or neuroscience.  

Epistemology. An advanced introduction to the theory of knowledge. A number of representative positions ranging from standard analytic epistemology to naturalized epistemology on the issues of knowledge and epistemic justification will be compared and contrasted.  

Guest Lecturer on Ethics of Animal Experimentation for Arthur Brown’s Advanced Topics in Integrative Neuroscience Course  

Guest lecturer on History of Biological Psychiatry in Steve Laviolette and Walter Rushlow’s Biological Psychiatry Course  

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Undergraduate Courses

Philosophy of Neuroscience. Instructor. This undergraduate honors course will begin by introducing students to a set of conceptual tools intended to inform, during the rest of the term, the investigation of the relationship between certain philosophical claims and those neuroscientific data/case studies on which they are based. Emphasis will be placed on critically evaluating the structure and foundations of experiments in the neurosciences of cognition. (Spring 2012)

Epistemology. Instructor. An upper-level undergraduate course in which a number of representative positions from standard and naturalized epistemology on the issues of knowledge and epistemic justification are investigated and contrasted. (Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Undergraduate Courses

Bioethics. Instructor. An introduction to biomedical ethics. (Spring 2008, Summer 2008, Fall 2008, Summer 2009, Fall 2009, Summer 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011)

Philosophy of Mind. Instructor. An upper-level undergraduate survey course in which various positions occupied on the nature of the mind-brain relationship, mental causation and the nature of consciousness are evaluated and contrasted (Fall 2007, 2008, Spring 2011)

Philosophy of Psychopathology. Co-taught with Harold Kincaid. An upper-level undergraduate course in which various philosophical and scientific approaches to understanding the nature and causes of mental disorders and approaches to diagnosis and treatment of such disorders are compared and contrasted. (Spring 2010)

University of Pittsburgh

Magic, Medicine and Science. Instructor. An upper level undergraduate course in which the scientific ideas of the Ancients are compared to those of the 17th century mechanical philosophers. (Summer 2006)

Morality and Medicine. Instructor. An introduction to biomedical ethics. (Spring 2006, Fall 2005, Spring 2004*, Summers 2001, 2000, 1999) (*Received teaching commendation from the College of General Studies and Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science)

Myth and Science. Instructor. An introductory level history and philosophy of science course that explores the differences between myth and science in antiquity. (Summer 2005) (*Received teaching commendation from Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science)

Darwinism and Its Critics. Instructor. An upper-level undergraduate course that examines the impact of Darwin’s predecessors and contemporaries on the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. (Summer 2004)

Science and Pseudoscience. Instructor. A freshman-level introduction to foundational issues in philosophy of science. (Fall 2000)

Mind and Medicine. Instructor. An upper-level introduction to the history and philosophy of mind, psychology, & neuroscience.(Spring 2000, Fall 1999)

University of Pittsburgh

Undergraduate Courses

ASSISTANTSHIPS

Introduction to Neuroscience. Teaching Assistant. A freshman-level introduction to neuroscience. (Fall 2001)

Explanations of Humans and Society. Teaching Assistant. A freshman-level introduction to the ideas of Freud, Skinner and Piaget. (Spring 2001)

Morality and Medicine. Teaching Assistant. An introduction to biomedical ethics.(Spring 1999)

Mind and Medicine. Teaching Assistant. An introduction to the history and philosophy of mind, psychology and neuroscience. (Fall 1998)

Clark University

Personal Values. Teaching Assistant. An introductory philosophy course with a focus on ethics. (Fall 1994)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Philosophical Association (APA)

International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility

Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society (MCCS)

Philosophy of Science Association (PSA)

Society for Neuroscience (SFN)

Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SPP)

Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology (SSPP)