Teaching

I have the privilege of teaching at a small liberal arts college that emphasizes small class sizes and individualized student attention. My teaching philosophy centers on preparing students to become informed and engaged citizens of a global community. To this end, in my teaching I seek to foster an active classroom with frequent opportunities for students to participate and to voice their own political beliefs. I want students to take ownership of their learning and to investigate political topics and issues that are important to them.

In recent semesters, I have been developing a novel method of student evaluation geared towards general education courses. Specifically, I use a gamified approach in order to foster interest and engagement in politics. I recently presented this work at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference. A working paper is available here.

I teach a broad array of courses. Specifically, over the past several years I have taught:

• American Political System (introductory course on American government and politics)
• U.S. Congress
• The American Presidency
• Judicial Politics
• Social Research Methods
• American Political Thought
• Political Psychology
• Public Opinion and Current Issues
• Debating Ethics (an applied ethical debate course to prepare the NCWC Ethics Team for competition; co-taught with Dr. Sherry Holland)

I am also developing an honors course on U.S. elections, to be taught concurrently with the upcoming presidential campaign in the fall of 2020.