# Graduate Students [### John Abughattas ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/eprice-594.jpg?itok=kof91WAm) [### Ayomide Ajimoko ](/people/ayo-ajimoko) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Moral and Political Philosophy ![Ayo](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/perception-7.jpg?itok=9QrWvACn) [### Mustafa Aziz ](/people/mustafa-aziz) PhD candidate Research Interests: Greek philosophy, Modern Philosophy, Kant and Post-Kantian Philosophy, Phenomenology ![mustafa_aziz](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/mustafa_aziz.jpg?itok=_8cRoDc-) [### Florence Bacus ](/people/florence-bacus)PhD candidate Research Interests: Practical Reason, Epistemology, Intentionality, Kant & German Idealism ![Florence Bacus Portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/florence_bacus.jpg?itok=4tM869d2) [### Fedra Cabrera Solano ](/people/fedra-cabrera) 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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2026-05/Untitled%20design%20%283%29.jpg?itok=1gFDWlgj) [### Gregory Carroll ](/people/gregory-carroll-0) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Category theory, logic, philosophy of mathematics, Wittgenstein ![Greg Carroll](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-01/IMG_2231%20%281%29.jpg?itok=2oP1eqnN) [### Bethany Cates ](/people/bethan-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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/bethany_cates_01.jpg?itok=nn3dHXmS) [### Luke Ciancarelli ](/people/luke-ciancarelli) PhD candidate Research Interests: Ethics & Moral Psychology (especially Kantian); Philosophy of Mind; History of Modern Philosophy (Early Modern, Kantian, and Post-Kantian) ![Luke Ciancarelli](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-10/DSC_4251%20copy.jpg?itok=KQ63WXYM) [### Snowball Deng ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/snowball_1_0.jpeg?itok=TloSGdqw) [### Ben Dever-Mendenhall ](/people/ben-dever-mendenhall) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Logic Ben received his BA from Cornell University in 2024. Before joining the department in 2025, he taught English in Slovakia through a Fulbright award. ![Ben Dever-Mendenhall](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-07/thumbnail_IMG_5560.jpg?h=3d8a411b&itok=nj5BdtWc) [### Johanne Donovan ](/people/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. *pramāṇa*)... ![Johanne Donovan](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-05/thumbnail_Bio%20photo%202024.jpg?h=775068fe&itok=xihSeDIt) [### Clary Doyle ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-07/clarydoyle.jpg?h=3b228daa&itok=9wBiHKRQ) [### Andrei Fomenko ](/people/andrei-fomenko) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Early modern philosophy ![Andrei Fomenko](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-07/IMG_3175.jpeg?h=fbe91d1d&itok=S0j-su2n) [### Veronika Hammond ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/hammond.jpg?itok=ezfgmkJZ) [### Shelby Hanna ](/people/shelby-hanna) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Metaethics, Philosophy of Language ![Shelby Hanna portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/shelby_hanna.jpg?itok=WWhOV064) [### Armin Heydari ](/people/armin-heydari) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Logic, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science ![Armin](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/armin.jpeg?itok=0cHB4jeT) [### Marley Hornewer ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/marleyportrait_1.jpg?itok=S-yaF1J2) [### Denish Jaswal ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/denish_jaswal_2020.jpg?itok=pHYqBwOU) [### Lucy Johnson ](/people/lucy-johnson) PhD Candidate person [### Jing Hwan Khoo ](/people/jing-hwan-khoo) [jinghwan\_khoo@g.harvard.edu](mailto:jinghwan_khoo@g.harvard.edu)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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-02/jinghwank.jpg?h=03457b78&itok=XtnUHVAN) [### Vivian Knopf ](/people/vivian-knopf) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Moral Psychology/Metaethics ![Vivian Knopf](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-09/thumbnail_IMG_2208.jpg?h=8673f876&itok=C1S_ty6m) [### Frank Li ](/people/frank-li) PhD candidate Research Interests: History of Philosophy, Metaphysics, Kant person [### Matthew Lyskawa ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/matt_lyskawa.jpg?itok=jvsGk5_S) [### Matt Macdonald ](/people/matt-macdonald) PhD candidate ![Matt Mcdonald portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/matt_mcdonald.jpg?itok=_596QM9w) [### Mukund Maithani ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-07/Mukund_photo.jpg?itok=5X-R6ORB) [### Emily Massey ](/people/emily-massey) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Metaphysics, Metaethics, Philosophy of Language ![Emily Massey portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/emilymassey.jpg?itok=l4WePKDo) [### Evelyn Rose Maude ](/people/evelyn-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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/website_photo_harvard_2024.jpg?itok=F2lJVviz) [### Aaron Minnick ](/people/aaron-minnick) PhD candidate in Philosophy and South Asian Studies person [### Michael Mitchell ](/people/michael-mitchell) JD/PhD candidate Research Interests: Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy person [### Malcolm Morano ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/2025-11/101525_ELSCE_MalcolmMorano_%28MelissaBlackall%29_RF_WEB-8.jpg?itok=r2IqFIOh) [### Sop Nwachukwu ](/people/sop-nwachukwu) PhD Candidate person [### Aisling O'Leary ](/people/aisling-oleary) 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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/aisling.jpg?itok=DNAJwTPn) [### Selorm Ohene ](/people/selorm-ohene) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Philosophy of math, philosophy and history, German idealism, Continental philosophy, probability and complex systems ![Selorm Ohene portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/dsc_5978-2.jpg?itok=sd75_s8U) [### Reuben Owusu ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/reuben.jpg?itok=MijFhrwc) [### Yi Peng ](/people/yi-peng) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Logic, Comparative Politics ![Yi Peng](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/yi_peng_photo_1.jpg?itok=xduAOkBK) [### LaKeyma Pennyamon ](/people/lakeyma-pennyamon) PhD candidate (AAAS) / MA candidate (Philosophy) person [### Ashwin Pillai ](/people/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](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/ashwin_headshot.jpg?itok=mCgJGC22) [### Eden Sayed ](/people/eden-sayed) [eden\_sayed@g.harvard.edu](mailto:eden_sayed@g.harvard.edu)PhD candidate in Neuroscience and Philosophy Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics ![eden sayed](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/grad_sayed-2018.jpg?itok=aVmpfOMl) [### Ezra Schwartz ](/people/ezra-schwartz) PhD candidate person [### Isaijah Shadrach ](/people/isaijah-johnson) PhD Candidate ![Isaijah Johnson portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/isaijahjohnson.jpg?itok=tjkIHh-o) [### Ryan Sirk ](/people/ryan-sirk) PhD candidate person [### Yuan Tian ](/people/yuan-tian) PhD candidate Research interests: Epistemology, Ethics ![Yuan Tian portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/yuan_tian.jpg?itok=7yqmWc54) [### Aaliyah Triumph ](/people/aaliyah-triumph)PhD Candidate ![Aaliyah Triumph portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/aaliyah_triumph.jpg?itok=FZgRr1aU) [### Abigail Tulenko ](/people/abigail-tulenko) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science ![Abigail Tulenko portrait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/abigail_tulenko.jpg?itok=IoBQfWlE) [### Eva Yguico ](/people/eva-yguico) PhD Candidate Research Interests: Moral, political, and legal philosophy, particularly on criminal justice ![Eva](/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/phildept/files/eva17of27.jpg?itok=AV6F1iAB) [### Asa Zabarsky ](/people/asa-zabarsky)PhD candidate Research Interests: Philosophy of mind, Philosophy of action, Moral psychology, Ethics person