UMUT BAYSAN

I am very enthusiastic about teaching philosophy, and as a teacher, I aspire to be a "generalist". That said, I love teaching things that I have research interests in. Since 2017 in Oxford, I have taught around 1,200 hours of tutorials in philosophy. Here are some "student testimonials":

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It has been such a privilege to be taught by you. I think you have a real gift for creating a kind of conversational back-and-forth that I've not experienced elsewhere in my undergraduate, or certainly not to the same extent. I can't tell you how often we talk about it - you've infected us with a love and enthusiasm for the philosophy of mind, and I know personally that I'll always be grateful for that. (Student email, shared with their permission, Oxford, 2019)

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I have gained extremely valuable takeaway from you. Your comments were constructive, encouraging, and point to the complexity of the issues at hand. You explained things so clearly while also pushing me to explain my own positions. I often have a hard time elaborate on my intuitive judgments, but you adopted the humble position to explore my ideas with me, and this has led to some fruitful insights and discoveries! You were very understanding, supportive, and flexible when I struggled the most. Not only were you patient when I couldn’t produce work, you cared about the source of my lack of productivity. I am thankful for all these things. (Student email, shared with their permission, Oxford, 2020)

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I have got extremely helpful comments from Dr Baysan, both in writing and during our supervision meeting ... Working with Dr Baysan is an absolute pleasure, and I look forward to having him as a supervisor next term. (BPhil student in Philosophy, Oxford, 2021)

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Thank you for your lectures on Animals and the Moral Demands of Affluence for the Practical Ethics paper, both of which were topics I studied and which were very useful for revision and providing useful reading materials and key summaries of ideas. (Feedback for "Practical Ethics" lectures, Oxford, 2021)

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Umut's tutorials were easily some of the best I've had over the course of my degree. (Anonymous feedback for "Philosophy of Mind" tutorials, Oxford, 2021)

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Umut has been a truly amazing tutor and has been so helpful and understanding with my work, and has really helped me fully understand all the content we’ve covered. (Anonymous feedback for "Philosophy of Cognitive Science" tutorials, Oxford 2022)

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I like that Umut prepared very detailed, well-designed handout for each session, so that we were able to follow through an agenda and stay focused on the relevant questions. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the class, which was very fun, relaxed and engaging - students were invested in exploring the various topics and there's no pressure in expressing thoughts freely and interacting with each other. I find both features to be rare in my past experience of the seminars here. (Anonymous feedback for Metaethics graduate classes, Oxford 2023)

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The material Umut chose was great since all the seminars were about one topic, so there was a lot of variety but enough continuity to feel like we are making progress. (Anonymous feedback for Metaethics graduate classes, Oxford 2023)

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Umut is a great seminar leader. He had brilliant handouts and was able to pass on knowledge even to the students who hadn't done the reading. He is always genuinely interested in the students' opinions and it felt very collegial. (Anonymous feedback for Metaethics graduate classes, Oxford 2023)

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Many thanks to Umut being a wonderful instructor! (Anonymous feedback for Metaethics graduate classes, Oxford 2023)

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For a complete list of teaching, supervision, and outreach activities (including those under previous employment) see my CV.

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