Dustin Webster, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Dustin Webster is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Institute for Social Concerns. He primarily supports the Virtues and Vocations project. A key part of his work involves extending the project’s mission to younger students through a summer program that helps high school students nearing graduation reflect on their future and what it means to live a good life.
Dustin’s work as a philosopher of education is grounded in a commitment to the formative and transformative potential of education—an emphasis that is increasingly important in an era when the value of education is often judged by economic returns alone. His research examines how educational purposes and practices shift when education is pursued primarily for economic ends, including positioning education as the primary institution for addressing poverty and for providing students with economic mobility.
Dustin is also committed to the philosophy for children movement, having served as co-director of Penn’s Project for Philosophy for the Young, which brought philosophy to underserved students in the Philadelphia School District.
Dustin holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.