Graduate Students

John Abughattas

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Moral and Political Philosophy

The central aim of my dissertation is to present and defend an account of the right of return for forcibly displaced persons which does not rely on territorial claims. In pursuing this project, I have...

John Abughattas

Florence Bacus

PhD candidate
Research Interests: Practical Reason, Epistemology, Intentionality, Kant & German Idealism
Florence Bacus Portrait

Fedra Cabrera Solano

PhD Candidate

Research interests: 19th and 20th century philosophy, Latin American philosophy, sexual ethics, social and political philosophy, aesthetics

My research focuses on questions arising from considering our erotic lives philosophically. Some of these questions...

Fedra Cabrera Solano

Bethany Cates

PhD candidate

Research Interests: Legal and Political Philosophy, Ethics, Meta-Ethics

I received my B.S. in Physics from MIT in 2019. I work primarily in political philosophy, and am especially interested in the philosophy of race, democratic theory, and their...

Bethany Cates portrait

Snowball Deng

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Science, and Philosophy of Action

Snowball joined the department in fall 2023 following an MA in Philosophy from Brandeis University and a BA in Philosophy from Beijing Normal University.

Snowball Deng

Johanne Donovan

PhD candidate in Philosophy and South Asian Studies

Research Interests: Indian and Tibetan philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics

I currently study Indian Philosophy, having arrived at Harvard by way of an eclectic academic background. My primary focus is on Indian and Tibetan epistemology (Skt. pramāa)...

Johanne Donovan

Clary Doyle

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Moral Philosophy 

Clary received her BA in philosophy and comparative literature from Northwestern University in 2025. She joined the department the following fall. 

Clary Doyle

Veronika Hammond

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Science, Epistemology

Veronika (she/her) received her BA in philosophy in 2022 from Montclair State University. Right now, she's primarily concerned with problems in consciousness studies and in the...

Hammond portrait

Marley Hornewer

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Ethics, Moral psychology, Feminist philosophy, Philosophy of education

My primary interests lie at the intersection of ethics and epistemology. At present, I am particularly fascinated by how individuals and communities develop their...

Marley Hornewer

Denish Jaswal

PhD candidate

Research Interests: Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Feminist Philosophy, Emotions

Denish joined the department in the fall of 2018, after completing her BA in Philosophy and BS in Neuroscience at Saint Louis University.

She is primarily interested in the...

denish_jaswal

Jing Hwan Khoo

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy

Jing Hwan (he/him) joined the department in fall 2022 following an MA in Philosophy from Simon Fraser University and a BA in Philosophy and Computer Science from New York University.

Jing Hwan Khoo

Matthew Lyskawa

PhD candidate

My research concerns incarceration law, especially its constitutional and philosophical upshots. Specifically, my dissertation recommends minute and sweeping changes to Eighth Amendment prison conditions jurisprudence with an eye towards empowering...

Matt Lyskawa portrait

Mukund Maithani

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Moral Psychology, Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science

I completed my undergraduate work in philosophy at Ashoka University, India, in 2022 and an MA in philosophy at Simon Fraser University, Canada, in 2025...

Mukund Maithani

Evelyn Rose Maude

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Early Modern European Philosophy, Metaphysics, Epistemology

Evelyn Rose joined the department in 2024. She completed her BA in philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Evelyn Maude

Malcolm Morano

PhD candidate

Research Interests: Ethics (especially Metaethics and Moral Psychology); Existentialism; Political Philosophy; and the History of Ethics and Political Philosophy.

My dissertation develops a theory of what the question of "the meaning of life" is a question...

Malcolm Morano

Aisling O'Leary

PhD Candidate

Research interests: Early modern philosophy, applied ethics, normative ethics, logic

Aisling joined the department in the fall of 2024. She received her B.S. in mathematics from Saint Michael’s College and her M.A. in philosophy from Virginia Tech. She is...

Aisling O'Leary

Reuben Owusu

PhD Candidate

Research Interests: Social and Political Philosophy, Africana Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Law

Reuben was an undergraduate at the Australian National University, where he received his LLB and BPPE. He joined the department in the fall of 2023.

Reuben Owusu

Ashwin Pillai

PhD Candidate

Research interests: Legal and political philosophy, social philosophy, ethics

Ashwin is interested in approaching U.S. courts and legal institutions from the perspective of democratic theory. Before joining the department in 2024, Ashwin received his B.A...

Aswin Pillai

Asa Zabarsky

PhD candidate
Research Interests: Philosophy of mind, Philosophy of action, Moral psychology, Ethics