Freedom to Think, LLC | Founder, Consultant (USA)
April 2023–Present

Freedom to Think℠ partners with local communities to expand access to the multicultural tradition of liberal arts-based leadership training and character education to all. To this end, Freedom to Think envisions a culturally inclusive understanding of canon, socratic seminar discussion, and pedagogy so as to welcome all communities into the liberating tradition of classical liberal arts education.

Its philosophy of education is simple, but revolutionary:

To strengthen the imaginative, rational, and moral capacities of communities through the timeless good of liberal arts education

Project/Consulting Samples

Building Bridges
-Co-convener/organizer for the Association for Core Texts and Courses’ (ACTC) initiative to expand membership to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), their faculty, graduate students, and honors undergrads within the organization, as well as to individuals from the aforementioned groups teaching and studying within historically white institutions. This initiative aims to better acquaint teachers and students less familiar with the African American tradition of Great Books and liberal learning with those contributions. Additionally, this initiative aims to invite the rich perspectives of African American scholars and university students regarding the human experience through the discussion of Great Texts in general. This initiative closely supports ACTC’s mission to revive and diversify common core Great Books education within higher education spaces.

Course Designs for Institutional Clients
-Course designer for the American Society for Islamic Philosophy and Theology’s  Templeton Foundation-funded “Verification and Renewal Curriculum” (VRC)  college prep curriculum, poised to serve Islamic high schools, seminaries, and homeschooling cooperatives around the country. Freedom to Think has been commissioned to provide designs for key VRC courses, including world literature, American history, logic, composition and rhetoric, and American literature.  

Community-Driven Workshops

-“Freedom to Think: An Introduction to Malcolm X’s Use of the Liberal Arts” 

Designed for community leaders and university students
(African American Museum Dallas & University of Dallas)

-“Ordering Rhymes: Understanding Hip Hop Lyricism through the Liberal Arts”
Designed for artists, educators, and intellectuals interested in the technical aspects/artistic merit of socially conscious Hip Hop lyricism (African American Museum Dallas)

Huston-Tillotson University (HBCU) | Guest Lecturer (Austin, TX)
June 2024–July 2024 & June 2023-July 2023

Taught the classical liberal arts portion of Hons. Pub Speaking w/ the Classical Liberal Arts (Comm 1315H) as part of this historical black university’s IDEAL Academy for incoming freshmen; mentored students’ transition into university-level thinking and integrative liberal arts study; introduced sentence diagramming to alleviate shortcomings in syntax and composition; introduced students to university-level “analytical/active reading” techniques through a guided gloss of Prof. Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book, as well as  introductory principles of logic and rhetoric.

Teachera Language School | Academic English Teacher (Konya, Turkey)
Nov 2022–May 2023

Delivered Advanced English instruction through a mix of “direct method” foreign language instruction and the facilitation of engaging exchanges about language through cultural and historical topics. Students ranged from approximately 15 to 40 years old.

Independent Language Instruction | Academic English Teacher (Istanbul, Turkey)
July 2020–Sept 2022

After integrating into the cosmopolitan Istanbul district of Uskudar, I built a professional portfolio as a uniquely effective and engaging language instructor with young professionals and college students in the area. At times, this included semesterly contracts with noteworthy cultural foundations/NGO such as the Istanbul Center for Research and Education (ISAR) and the ILEM Academic Studies Association.

BILDEV Foundation for the Study of Science and Thought | Ed. Consultant (Istanbul, Turkey)
Dec 2019–May 2020

Academic English instruction and activity design; coordinated language table activities in which researchers assisted one another in the development of foreign language skills. My students were typically history and philosophy postgraduate researchers.

Faith in Texas, Dallas | Civic Engagement Fellow (Dallas, TX)
April 2016-July 2017

My last foray into politics before moving overseas to teach English. Faith in Texas is a branch of a national interfaith social justice organization named Faith in Action (formerly PICO). Faith in Texas was distinct from the other PICO chapters in that it was the Texas branch, necessitating a level of political independence and moderation needed in structuring faith-based, bipartisan support for different social issues, such as immigration reform and principled criminal justice reform.