Essays
Friends
An essay written for the inaugural Amherst College Disorientation Guide, on the fundamental importance of friendship to the project of learning as prescribed by the word “philosophy” (the phílos of sophíā), and what it would mean to be “a friend to thought.” (2015)… Continue reading Friends
On Irony & Loneliness
An exploration of the interplay of irony and loneliness in shaping student life at Amherst College. (2013)… Continue reading On Irony & Loneliness
Academic Work
Civilization & Its Dispossessed
(or, Ellison’s Cruel Optimism) So many hard times … Sleepin’ on motel floors, Knockin’ on my brother’s door, Eatin’ spam, and Oreos, And drinkin’ Thunderbird, baby … — Baby Huey, “Hard Times” … although, in an age so fantastical, I would hesitate to say precisely what a fantasy is. — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time… Continue reading Civilization & Its Dispossessed
American Chthonic 