![]() |
|
Chaz Firestone Assistant Professor Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Johns Hopkins University chaz@jhu.edu CV, Google Scholar |
This page contains some information about me and my work, as well as some resources that you might find helpful if you are interested in working in our lab, contacting me, enrolling in one of my courses, etc. You may also want to visit our main lab webpage, or see a list of publications.
Contact Me
Feel free to write to me with questions about research, courses, joining the lab, etc.:
|
Research Opportunities
Interested in joining our lab group? We will consider applications for graduate students during the 2019-2020 application cycle (i.e., to begin in Fall 2020). Additionally, there are positions available for especially dedicated undergraduate research assistants. You can learn more about all the positions available in our lab over at our opportunities page. You can also always feel free to send Chaz a note!
Courses
I am the regular instructor for Introduction to Psychology (AS.200.101). We've had three semesters so far (Fall 2017, 2018, 2019), and the course will probably be offered again in Fall 2020. You can see a syllabus here. We take song requests.In Spring 2018, I taught Thought & Perception (AS.150.476 / AS.200.316), together with Prof. Steven Gross. The course was about philosophical and psychological consequences of "rational" or "optimal" or "Bayesian" approaches to modeling the mind. You can learn more at our course website, philpsych.jhu.edu. There is not currently an active plan to offer this course again with me as the instructor, but that may change!
About Me
Academic
Before coming to Johns Hopkins, I did my Ph.D. in the Department of Psychology at Yale, where I worked primarily with Brian Scholl and also collaborated with Frank Keil. Before that, I earned an M.A. from the Department of Philosophy at Brown, where I was advised by Christopher Hill. I was also an undergraduate at Brown, where I was a member of the final graduating class of the Department of Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences (which has since re-organized) and worked with Bill Warren in the Virtual Environment Navigation Lab. Because of someone else's very hard work, I know ~350 years of my academic lineage.
Personal
I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, an objectively wonderful city to grow up in despite its record-breakingly awful hockey team. I don't know any of the cast members of Degrassi, though Drake did go to high school around the block from my childhood home. I am not related to "those Firestones"; but since you asked, my grandmother was pretty awesome (check out this video of her from 1963 singing on Canadian broadcast television in defiance of various sexist religious norms). This is a 3D print of my brain (at 1/8th scale by volume).When I'm not doing cognitive science, one of my favorite hobbies is grappling. Here's what it looks like when very talented people grapple. Here's what it looks like when I grapple.
I enjoy visiting grappling gyms when I travel, and am a member of BJJ Globetrotters. If I'm ever in your town, let's roll! Here's a list of gyms I've trained at:
- Atos HQ (San Diego, CA) feat. multiple-time IBJJF and ADCC World Champion Andre Galvao!
- Balance Studios (Philadelphia, PA).
- Baltimore BJJ (Baltimore, MD).
- BJJ Globetrotters (3 Camps: 2015 New Hampshire, 2018 Maine, 2019 Maine).
- Carlson Gracie CT (New Haven, CT).
- Carlson Gracie Oxford (Oxford, United Kingdom).
- Colorado Brazilian Jiu Jitsu West (Denver, CO).
- Combat Room (Wellington, New Zealand).
- Form Jiu Jitsu (Baltimore, MD), where I train here in Baltimore.
- Gracie Academy (Torrance, CA), where I got to spar with Rener Gracie.
- Gracie St Pete (St Pete Beach, FL).
- Grapple Academy Martial Arts (Perry Hall, MD).
- Johns Hopkins Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Baltimore, MD), a surprisingly large and dedicated BJJ club here at JHU.
- Justin Halberda's living room, where my esteemed colleague and I once had a little sparring session...
- Marcus Soares Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Vancouver, Canada).
- New Breed Academy (Kauai, HI).
- Open Source Jiu Jitsu (Asheville, NC), with patriotic training partners.
- Openmat MMA (Toronto, Canada).
- Plainville Martial Arts (Plainville, CT).
- Rio Grappling Club Firenze (Florence, Italy).
- Ronin BJJ (New Haven, CT).
- Soulcraft BJJ (New Haven, CT); my original "home" gym in Connecticut, where I trained from white to purple under Brad Wolfson and was introduced to BJJ by Dan Greco.
- Taiwan BJJ (Taipei, Taiwan).
- Tristar Gym (Montreal, Canada), where I got to train with Firas Zahabi and Georges St-Pierre!
- URSA Academy (Ann Arbor, MI).
- Zenyo Jiu Jitsu (Baltimore, MD).
I'm married to Rebecca Theise, a pediatric nurse practitioner who is also good at writing and throwing Frisbees.
