Research Interests

My research interests center on value theory, across multiple areas of philosophy. My primary areas of interest are in philosophy of music, aesthetics, social and political philosophy, and Wittgenstein. My areas of competence include the history of modern philosophy (especially Hume and Kant), and philosophy of mind.

I am currently conducting long term research into the role of values in conceptual frameworks, and their effects on philosophical claims about music, where there are issues of fit at the conceptual level among music of different cultural paradigms, with particular emphasis on comparative analysis of western classical music, and Persian art music. My research draws on contemporary analytic philosophy of music, 19th century Kantian and post-Kantian thought on aesthetics, ethics, and idealism; Wittgenstein on description in philosophy; contemporary theory on globalization and culture in social and political philosophy, critical theory, and Iranian studies; ethnomusicology; and Persian aesthetics, music history, and music theory. The aim of this research is threefold: first, to articulate a contribution to research in the relation between concepts, practices, and values in philosophy; second, to build on attempts to diversify philosophy of music by the inclusion of wider cultural and musical perspectives; and third, to raise awareness of social practices and insights from underrepresented domains within Persian culture.

I am particularly grateful for the continued opportunities to study with Philip Alperson and the Temple University faculty, Professor Lydia Goehr at Columbia University, and Professor Paul Guyer and Professor Elisabeth Camp at the University of Pennsylvania, during the course of my graduate research.

Curriculum Vitae