# Advising Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies: Seth Robertson Undergraduate Studies Fellow: Luke Ciancarelli Director of Undergraduate Studies: Edward Hall ## Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies: Seth Robertson ![seth robertson](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/phildept/files/postdoc_robertson-2019.jpg?itok=ygomPkZf) Seth Robertson received his PhD in 2019 from the University of Oklahoma. He was a Dissertation Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing there, and an inaugural member of the APA Graduate Student Council. His research interests include moral psychology, the history of ethics, early Chinese ethics, social epistemology, virtue ethics, and metaethics. Seth’s research focuses on ways in which non-normative information should constrain our normative theorizing. He has written about the intersection of social intelligence and virtue ethics as well as situationist psychology and moral development in the context of early Confucian ethics, and is currently working on epistemic injustice and rhetorical manipulation. Seth is one of the founders of The Deviant Philosopher, a web resource which helps philosophy instructors better include philosophy from outside the traditional canon in their teaching. ## Undergraduate Studies Fellow: Luke Ciancarelli ![Luke](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/phildept/files/luke_picture_brochure.jpeg?itok=01UOBHjY) ## Director of Undergraduate Studies: Edward Hall ![Edward Hall](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/phildept/files/ned.jpg?itok=9BGByGZS) I work on a range of topics in metaphysics and epistemology that overlap with philosophy of science. (Which is to say: the *best* topics in metaphysics and epistemology.) Are there “fundamental” laws of nature? What are they – as distinct, say, from accidentally true generalizations, or the causal generalizations that seem to figure in the special sciences? Suppose it’s a truism that one of the central aims of scientific inquiry is to uncover the causal structure of our world (at many different time- and length-scales); what does “causal structure” need to mean, for this truism to be not merely true but illuminating? What are the varieties of probability, and can any of them be said to be properly “objective”? What would it take for one science to “reduce” to another? Must fundamental physics have an intelligible ontology – and if so, what does this constraint amount to? Is there any need for a conception of ‘metaphysical possibility’ that outstrips physical possibility? Can there be any basis for skepticism about *unobservable* structure that is not also, and equally, a basis for skepticism about *unobserved* structure? (And so on.) I firmly believe that philosophical discourse always goes better if the parties involved resolutely avoid any “burden-shifting” maneuvers, and that teaching always goes better if you bring cookies. ## Undergraduate Studies Office The Director of Undergraduate Studies, the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the Undergraduate Studies Fellow serve as academic advisors for all philosophy concentrators. You can speak to us about all academic matters related to the concentration as well as your other classes. - Deciding on whether the Philosophy Concentration is right for you - Pursuing a joint or double concentration, including the Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB) program - Course selection inside and outside the department (esp. planning for courses in future semesters) - Tutorials - Distribution requirements within the Concentration - The Thesis writing process - Study abroad and summer funding opportunities - Life after college - Any issues related to any of the classes in the department ## Crimson Cart, Advising Holds, Official Forms Any member of the Office of undergraduate studies can lift advising holds, sign add/drop forms, and sign other forms related to the concentration. *A note on advising holds*: the advising staff will only lift advising holds after an in-person advising meeting. ## Meeting with Us We maintain a list of our office hours, where you can also sign up for office hour time slots ([link to Google calendar](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/AcZssZ1nIdCdGtTr3IUU0jHoylgERrWQgnhoR6aNZiE=)). If you see that slots are available and you'd like to drop by unannounced during any of these times, we're more than happy to meet with you if we're free. The sign-up mechanism is just there to ensure that you don't have to wait for an opportunity to talk. ## Declaring a Concentration To declare Philosophy as your concentration or as a primary or allied field in a joint concentration, you should first meet with one of us in the Director of Undergraduate Studies Office. We are: Edward Hall (DUS): Seth Robertson (Assistant DUS): Luke Ciancarelli (Undergraduate Studies Fellow): [lukeciancarelli@g.harvard.edu](mailto:sirk@g.harvard.edu) You can sign up for appointments by following this [link](https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/appointments/AcZssZ1nIdCdGtTr3IUU0jHoylgERrWQgnhoR6aNZiE=). After the meeting, we will approve your concentration declaration request in my.harvard. If you are declaring a joint or double concentration, you should also follow the declaration instructions for your other field. Double concentrations also require that students submit two signed copies of the [Double Concentration Form](https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/files/fasro/files/declaration_of_double_concentration_final.pdf?m=1660315745), one for each concentration. ## Feedback You can also use [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYLXsmh9wlH-xW73Tmdg5q2QULFax4oePnqN-6J03pd1mFUQ/viewform?usp=sf_link) to share any thoughts with us you like.