| 23 Course Sections | ~560 Students taught | 4.9 Recent Evals /5 | 18/23 sections Above dept. average |
What I try to build is a room where students think in public without being afraid. In practice that means text-centred teaching — reading primary sources closely, in their own intellectual context, rather than receiving summaries of them; structured discussion and small-group debate so that speaking time is distributed rather than captured; and scaffolded writing, where drafts are read and returned with substantive comments before anything is graded.
I publish rubrics in advance, develop exam topics collaboratively with students from a list circulated early, and use whole-class sessions on anonymised student work to make revision standards visible instead of mysterious.
I also think the canon a student meets in their first philosophy course shapes what they take philosophy to be. Mine includes Cavendish, Shepherd, and Christine de Pizan alongside the usual figures, and cross-cultural material including Buddhist philosophy.
Courses Taught
History and Philosophy of Science
Taught repeatedly at Bilkent University (2021–2025).
An interdisciplinary introduction to the development of modern science and its philosophical foundations, from early modern physics to contemporary debates.
Empiricists
Taught at Bilkent University (2024–2025).
A focused study of early modern empiricism with attention to science, perception, and causality.
Social and Political Philosophy I
Taught repeatedly at Bilkent University (2021–2025).
An introduction to classical and modern political thought, authority, justice, and social order.
Social and Political Philosophy II
Taught repeatedly at Bilkent University (2022–2024).
Advanced topics in political philosophy, including democracy, rights, power, and contemporary political theory.
Upper-Level & Graduate Courses
Introduction to Eighteenth-Century Philosophy and Science
Upper-level undergraduate course, Stanford University (2021).
Explored major figures, debates, and the transformation of natural philosophy in the Enlightenment.
Topics in Eighteenth-Century Natural Philosophy
Graduate seminar, Stanford University (2020).
Intensive study of Newtonian science, mechanics, causation, and scientific methodology.
Interdisciplinary & General Education
Modern Foundations of Western Thought
University of Southern California (2019).
A broad historical introduction to modern philosophy and the intellectual foundations of modern science and politics.
Early Modern Science and Philosophy
University of Southern California (2018).
Focused on the Scientific Revolution, including Galileo, Descartes, Newton, and early modern theories of nature.
Science and Values
University of Southern California (2018).
An interdisciplinary course on objectivity, ethics, social values, and scientific practice.
Monica Solomon 