He holds an MA in philosophy from Penn State, an M.Phil. in international relations from Cambridge University, and received his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard Humanities Center and the American Academy of Arts and Science and is the author of two academic works on American Philosophy (IDEALISM, PRAGMATISM AND FEMINISM (Rowman and Littlefield, 2011) and THINKING THROUGH THE IMAGINATION: AESTHETICS IN HUMAN COGNITION (Fordham University Press, 2014)). His journalistic and essayistic work has been published in the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Shambhala Sun, among others. His first book for a general readership, AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY: A LOVE STORY, was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in October 2016.