Over the past few years, I've taught several courses on Plato's Republic, including a year-long elective seminar for high school Juniors at the Ramaz Upper School. I know of no other single text that, when read slowly and discussed with others, raises so many of life's fundamental questions in a enjoyable manner.

In 2019, I began teaching Bard College Berlin's core course on Early Modern Science. I've since taught iterations at other institutions, as well as online for homeschoolers. Exploring the origins of our modern views of science delves us deep into fundamental questions about politics, religion, and the human relationship to nature.

I've been fascinated by Maimonides since I first emerged from my modern orthodox Jewish upbringing and took more courses on him in my student days than on any other author. I've finally built up the courage to lead others in the study of his monumental treatise on the relationship between religion and philosophy.

I never imagined that Adam Smith's tome on modern economics could be enjoyable---and then I read it. Not only is Smith charming, but he emerges as far more sober and balanced than so many who now speak in his name. I first taught Smith as part of the Bard College Berlin core course on the Origins of Political Economy but have since offered several seminars on his seminal work.

At the University of Texas at Austin, I primarily teach the Thomas Jefferson Center's core course on the Bible and Its Interpreters. I introduce students to key sections of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, as well as the range of traditions that have made these texts their own.

Though I mainly teach core texts these days, I continue to enjoy the detective work that goes into reconstructing an ancient civilization from fragmentary evidence. In this course, students are introduced to the range of materials that have been unearthed at the site of ancient Ugarit and its environs in order to bring a world back to life.