ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ

Alumnus brings philosophy to public policy

Christian Barnard ’17 is familiar with deep thought. He is, after all, a philosophy and economics graduate from ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. And it was his philosophical training that initially caught the attention of the vice president and hiring manager at Reason Foundation, a leading public policy think tank based in California. Barnard felt prepared when the interviewer asked him about the Trolley Problem. A thought experiment in ethics, the Trolley Problem is a “What would you do in this situation?” dilemma.

After an exchange on the various formulations of the Trolley Problem, as well as the philosophy of artificial intelligence, the interviewer seemed very excited, noting that many emerging policy/law problems require this type of deep thinking. Barnard landed the job.

“He observed that my philosophical training could be particularly useful in developing a legal framework for autonomous vehicles, among other things,” Barnard said.

Now an education policy analyst for the company, he studies the relationship between spending and educational outcomes, as well as student-based budgeting in public school finance. In his position, Barnard supports the vice president of research while focusing on drug policy, environmental regulation and new technologies. “I must say, I felt that the position was a reach for me. There were 30-plus applicants, many of whom had postgraduate degrees,” he said. “Given these facts, and my limited experience in policy, I was surprised when the vice president of research reached out for an interview.”

He credits his ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ professors for preparing him to land a job like this. He added, “Without the critical thinking and writing skills that my professors helped me develop, I know this opportunity would not have been open to me. I can truly say that classes like Moral Problems and Minds and Machines directly helped to get me a job!”

Barnard often thinks back fondly on the classes he took at ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ. “I miss those conversations, the academic rigor, and the intellectual honesty that was so wonderfully exemplified.”

Learn more about ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ's philosophy program here.