My dissertation was directed and supervised by Prof. Hille Haker (Richard A. McCormick, S.J. Chair of Catholic Moral Theology), and focused on a normative grounding for ethics - and particularly Catholic ethics - in the contemporary discourse of human rights. It is my contention - and the subject of my dissertation - that Catholic ethics would be well served in the 21st century to explore alternative models and methodologies for making normative claims and grounding normative ethics that expands beyond the dominant tradition of the Natural Law. The alternative starting point I offer come to us from Kant, and emerges out of the contemporary literature on Kant's second formulation of the Categorical Imperative - the Formula of Humanity. Most prominent among the interpreters of Kant who I take to embody this position, and who have contributed greatly to this literature, is the philosopher Christine Korsgaard. Through her interpretive lens, Kant's ethical project, I argue, becomes a robust and responsible interlocutor for Catholic-Christian ethical reflection and analysis.

In addition to my interest in the normative questions of ethics, my research interests also include Roman Catholic theology and ethics, hermeneutics, continental philosophy, political theology, social ethics, liberation theologies (feminist, womanist, gay/lesbian, black, latin@), religion & society, religion & law, and theology & ethics in literature.

I worked as the Graduate Research Assistant at The Joan and Bill Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago from 2009-2015. From 2015-2016, I was the Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Hank Center.  I graduated from Boston College in 2005 with my B.A. in Theology and English, and again in 2008 with my M.A. in Theological Ethics. While an undergrad BC, I was a member of the University Chorale, and volunteered with both the Appalachia Volunteers and the 4Boston program. As a graduate students at BC, I worked at The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life. In 2001, I graduated from Boston College High School.

Outside of my academic work and interests, I enjoy swimming, rock climbing, sailing, skiing, reading, cooking, and traveling. I am fluent in English and Spanish, conversant in Italian, and I have a reading level knowledge of German.