Teaching
I find teaching to be one of the most important and rewarding aspects of my work.
You can find info on student feedback and courses I've taught below.
You can find info on student feedback and courses I've taught below.
Student Feedback
Over 90% of my students across all courses taught found my overall teaching ‘Very Good’ or 'Excellent’
On a scale from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (excellent) students ranked me between ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’
for all four key teaching skills. Graph displays average rankings across all courses taught:
On a scale from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (excellent) students ranked me between ‘Very Good’ and ‘Excellent’
for all four key teaching skills. Graph displays average rankings across all courses taught:
You are a revelation to me! Your interest and passion for philosophy are so well transmitted and stimulate our intellectual curiosity. I especially appreciate the way you deliver the content, it is clear, dynamic, lively and everything seems more obvious. THANK YOU."
(Anonymous feedback for La Valeur des Emotions, Université de Genève)
I really enjoyed the course and its structure, as well as Dr. Silva's teaching. She listened to our needs and is probably one of the best teachers I have had in my academic career to date."
(Anonymous feedback for Notions Fondamentales d'Éthique, Université de Montréal)
Ms Silva is really engaging and encourages us to deeply understand the readings. I also found her feedback on the reading week formative essay extremely useful. She is an excellent teacher."
(Anonymous feedback for History of Philosophy II, University College London)
Courses Taught
Feminism: Theory and Practice, Université Laval
The first part of this course covers the main perspectives of feminist thought, from liberal approaches to intersectionality and black feminism, to postcolonial, indigenous and queer theories. A brief history of the Western feminist movement is provided, with particular attention to Canada and Quebec. The second part of the course applies the theoretical frameworks discussed above to specific issues such as pornography and sex work, gender violence, religion and the climate crisis.
Syllabus available upon request.
Political Emotions, Université Laval
The course draws on recent work in feminist theory, psychology and philosophy of emotion to bring emotions back to the center of political thought. It introduces fundamental questions about emotions such as their nature and rationality, and investigates the moral and political value of several specific emotions, including anger, compassion, fear, and envy.
Syllabus available upon request.
Bioethics, Université de Montréal
The general objective of this course is to introduce undergraduate students in biomedical sciences to the main theories and contemporary issues in bioethics. The aim is to acquire a basic knowledge of bioethics, which is considered indispensable in the training of future researchers and health professionals. The first part of the course will be devoted to the presentation of the main concepts and theories in bioethics. The rest of the course will be more applied, but will be informed by the theories covered in the first part. We will address issues related to research ethics as well as the topics of abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, animal ethics, and sexism and racism in research and medicine. We will also look at how to allocate health resources nationally and internationally.
This is an undergraduate course aimed at students majoring in biomedical sciences and cognitive neuroscience. Syllabus available upon request.
The Value of Emotions, Université de Genève
Emotions have multiple relationships to values. This seminar focuses on one of these relationships, namely the value that emotions have both at the level of the individual who feels them and at the level of the community in which he lives. More specifically, the seminar will explore the nature and value of particular emotions such as admiration, pride, anger, shame, guilt, regret, envy, jealousy, boredom, love, fear, hope, compassion, sadness, disgust, etc. It will begin with a general presentation of the relationship between emotions and values to focus specifically on the types of value (instrumental vs. final, personal vs. impersonal, individual vs. social, moral vs. amoral, etc.) that emotions can exemplify. Then, the seminar will be organized around the reading of texts targeting the normativity that characterizes a particular emotion or family of emotions. In doing so, we will have the opportunity to address some of the following questions: What is the relationship between admiration and virtue? Is hate always immoral? Is shame necessarily social? Can anger have a positive social and political impact? Is envy the source of political egalitarianism? Is compassion the sign of an altruistic will? Are there reasons for love?
This is an MA course co-taught with Professor Julien Deonna, in French. Syllabus available upon request.
Topics in Feminist Philosophy, University College London
The aim of this course is to develop students’ reading, understanding and essay writing skills through engagement with key texts and topics in Feminist Philosophy. The course is divided in three parts – Gender Oppression, Epistemology & Emotions and Political Philosophy & Ethics - which each lasts three weeks. Part I introduces tutees to theorizing about gender oppression. Students will engage with canonical texts where popular terms such as ‘oppression’ and ‘intersectionality’ will be demystified and contextualized. Tutees will then engage with both classic as well as contemporary pieces on the nature of gender. In Part II tutees will consider the feasibility and epistemic benefits of occupying ‘standpoints’. Particular attention will be paid to the emotional responses that may accompany such standpoints, most notably justified anger. In Part III students will tackle three classic issues in feminist thinking in turn: multiculturalism, prostitution and pornography.
This is a first year undergraduate course taught in the tutorial style. Syllabus available upon request.
Emotions: From Mind to Morals, University College London
The aim of this course is to get students to engage seriously with canonical as well as recent work in the philosophy of emotion. The particular focus of the course will be the ‘rationality’ of emotions. To approach this topic, we will need both to consider theoretical issues such as the nature of emotions and their associated epistemology as well as practical concerns such as their role in our daily and political lives. The course comprises 3 sections, each of which will span 3 weeks. Section 1 focuses on three influential theories of emotion. Section 2 focuses on what emotional rationality might amount to. While the discussions in these two sections tend to be about emotions in general, in Section 3 we will focus on one emotion in particular, anger. We will consider how what we have covered so far may apply to anger and its political value. Some guiding questions are therefore: What are emotions? In what sense or senses can we rationally assess emotions? And how do such questions bear on the political value of anger?
This is an advanced undergraduate course taught in the tutorial style. Syllabus available upon request
The first part of this course covers the main perspectives of feminist thought, from liberal approaches to intersectionality and black feminism, to postcolonial, indigenous and queer theories. A brief history of the Western feminist movement is provided, with particular attention to Canada and Quebec. The second part of the course applies the theoretical frameworks discussed above to specific issues such as pornography and sex work, gender violence, religion and the climate crisis.
Syllabus available upon request.
Political Emotions, Université Laval
The course draws on recent work in feminist theory, psychology and philosophy of emotion to bring emotions back to the center of political thought. It introduces fundamental questions about emotions such as their nature and rationality, and investigates the moral and political value of several specific emotions, including anger, compassion, fear, and envy.
Syllabus available upon request.
Bioethics, Université de Montréal
The general objective of this course is to introduce undergraduate students in biomedical sciences to the main theories and contemporary issues in bioethics. The aim is to acquire a basic knowledge of bioethics, which is considered indispensable in the training of future researchers and health professionals. The first part of the course will be devoted to the presentation of the main concepts and theories in bioethics. The rest of the course will be more applied, but will be informed by the theories covered in the first part. We will address issues related to research ethics as well as the topics of abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, animal ethics, and sexism and racism in research and medicine. We will also look at how to allocate health resources nationally and internationally.
This is an undergraduate course aimed at students majoring in biomedical sciences and cognitive neuroscience. Syllabus available upon request.
The Value of Emotions, Université de Genève
Emotions have multiple relationships to values. This seminar focuses on one of these relationships, namely the value that emotions have both at the level of the individual who feels them and at the level of the community in which he lives. More specifically, the seminar will explore the nature and value of particular emotions such as admiration, pride, anger, shame, guilt, regret, envy, jealousy, boredom, love, fear, hope, compassion, sadness, disgust, etc. It will begin with a general presentation of the relationship between emotions and values to focus specifically on the types of value (instrumental vs. final, personal vs. impersonal, individual vs. social, moral vs. amoral, etc.) that emotions can exemplify. Then, the seminar will be organized around the reading of texts targeting the normativity that characterizes a particular emotion or family of emotions. In doing so, we will have the opportunity to address some of the following questions: What is the relationship between admiration and virtue? Is hate always immoral? Is shame necessarily social? Can anger have a positive social and political impact? Is envy the source of political egalitarianism? Is compassion the sign of an altruistic will? Are there reasons for love?
This is an MA course co-taught with Professor Julien Deonna, in French. Syllabus available upon request.
Topics in Feminist Philosophy, University College London
The aim of this course is to develop students’ reading, understanding and essay writing skills through engagement with key texts and topics in Feminist Philosophy. The course is divided in three parts – Gender Oppression, Epistemology & Emotions and Political Philosophy & Ethics - which each lasts three weeks. Part I introduces tutees to theorizing about gender oppression. Students will engage with canonical texts where popular terms such as ‘oppression’ and ‘intersectionality’ will be demystified and contextualized. Tutees will then engage with both classic as well as contemporary pieces on the nature of gender. In Part II tutees will consider the feasibility and epistemic benefits of occupying ‘standpoints’. Particular attention will be paid to the emotional responses that may accompany such standpoints, most notably justified anger. In Part III students will tackle three classic issues in feminist thinking in turn: multiculturalism, prostitution and pornography.
This is a first year undergraduate course taught in the tutorial style. Syllabus available upon request.
Emotions: From Mind to Morals, University College London
The aim of this course is to get students to engage seriously with canonical as well as recent work in the philosophy of emotion. The particular focus of the course will be the ‘rationality’ of emotions. To approach this topic, we will need both to consider theoretical issues such as the nature of emotions and their associated epistemology as well as practical concerns such as their role in our daily and political lives. The course comprises 3 sections, each of which will span 3 weeks. Section 1 focuses on three influential theories of emotion. Section 2 focuses on what emotional rationality might amount to. While the discussions in these two sections tend to be about emotions in general, in Section 3 we will focus on one emotion in particular, anger. We will consider how what we have covered so far may apply to anger and its political value. Some guiding questions are therefore: What are emotions? In what sense or senses can we rationally assess emotions? And how do such questions bear on the political value of anger?
This is an advanced undergraduate course taught in the tutorial style. Syllabus available upon request
