I am currently a Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion where I was previously the inaugural Dean of the Honors College.
Previously, I was an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina, where I was also a Peter and Bonnie McCausland faculty fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am also a faculty fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America, and have served as a Newbigin Interfaith Fellow with The
Carver Project.
Prior to coming to the University of South Carolina, I was a Collegiate Assistant Professor the Humanities at the University of Chicago, where I was also a member of the Society for the Liberal Arts. I earned my Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh and my B.A. in Philosophy and Medieval Studies (with a
Classics minor) at Indiana University-Bloomington.
My academic research is primarily in moral psychology and virtue. I’ve co-edited a volume titled Self-Transcendence and Virtue with my former colleague Candace Vogler, and Practical Truth with my husband and colleague, Christopher Frey. A third volume, titled Practical Wisdom, is under contract with Oxford University Press.
In 2015, I was awarded a multi-million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation, titled “Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life.” I frequently write more popular essays and book reviews in places like First Things, Image, The Point, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. I host a philosophy, theology, and literature podcast called Sacred and Profane Love.