Teaching

Teaching experience

Courses taught at City University of London

Introduction to Politics

  • Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020

  • Lecture introducing students to politics and political science

Introduction to British Politics

  • Spring 2020

  • Lecture introducing students to the institutions, policies, and issues in British Politics

Practical Politics

  • Autumn 2018

  • Seminar providing professional orientation for advanced undergraduate students

Political Psychology

  • Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021

  • Introduction to Political Psychology for advanced undergraduate students

Advanced Topics in Comparative Politics

  • Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020

  • Seminar about current scholarly debates in Comparative Politics for advanced undergraduates

Courses taught at Humboldt University Berlin

Introduction to Comparative Politics and International Relations

  • Winter 2011-12, Winter 2017-18

  • Lecture for 150 students providing an integrated survey of Comparative Politics and International Relations

Research Design and Methods in Comparative Politics (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2010

  • Graduate seminar providing an introduction to research design and methods in Comparative Politics

Experiments in Political Science (for the two semester version: syllabus part 1 here and part 2 here, for the one semester version: syllabus here)

  • Spring 2011 and Winter 2011-12, Winter 2014-15

  • Graduate seminar on the theory and practice of experimentation

Political explanations and public opinion (Syllabus here)

  • Winter 2016-17, Spring 2017, Spring 2018

  • Advanced undergraduate seminar about the impact of policy justifications used by political elites on political preferences in the mass public

European integration and political conflict (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2013, Winter 2016-17, Winter 2017-18, Winter 2018-19

  • Advanced undergraduate seminar on the formation of public opinion toward European integration, and the impact of European integration on political conflict

Europe - unity and diversity (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2010

  • Undergraduate seminar on European politics that combines a comparative perspective on European political, economic, and cultural diversity with an analysis of European integration

Political Parties and Party Systems (Syllabus here)

  • Winter 2010-11

  • Advanced undergraduate seminar on political parties and party systems, and their relation to democracy and political development

Electoral politics and European integration (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2015

  • Graduate seminar about the implications of European integration for voting behavior and party systems

The emergence of class politics (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2015

  • Advanced undergraduate seminar about the emergence of class politics and the implications for theories of political mobilization and political development

Readings on the strategic use of political rhetoric (Syllabus here)

  • Winter 2016-17, Spring 2017, Spring 2018

  • Graduate seminar on political rhetoric and its strategic use in democratic politics

The politicization of regionalism (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2017

  • Graduate seminar on the politicization of regional integration in global perspective

Introduction to Comparative Politics and International Relations

  • Winter 2009-10, Winter 2010-11, Winter 2011-12, Winter 2012-13, Winter 2014-15, Winter 2017-18, Spring 2018, Winter 2018-19

  • Introductory seminar with an integrated survey of these two subfields of Political Science

Research in Comparative Politics

  • Winter 2011-12, Winter 2016-17, Spring 2017, Winter 2017-18, Spring 2018, Winter 2018-19

  • Research Seminar discussing ongoing and planned research in Comparative Politics

Causes taught at Ohio State University

Introduction to Comparative Politics (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2004, Summer 2004, Spring 2006, Winter 2008

  • Survey of themes and approaches combined with case studies of Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia

Government and Politics in Modern Democracies (Syllabus here)

  • Winter 2005, Spring 2005, Winter 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008

  • Advanced seminar on democratic political institutions and their effects on the nature of political conflict

The Politics of European Integration (Syllabus here)

  • Summer 2005, Autumn 2005, Summer 2006, Winter 2007, Autumn 2007

  • Advanced seminar on EU politics, history, policies, and institutions, as well as theories of European integration

Introduction to Western Europe (Syllabus here)

  • Autumn 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009

  • Lecture for 50 to 150 students providing a survey of Western European political, socio-economic, and cultural history from the 11th century until today.

Introduction to Globalization (Syllabus here)

  • Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009

  • Advanced seminar on the meaning, history, origins, and repercussions of globalization.

Thesis advising

Adviser and committee member for 12 PhD dissertations, 14 MA theses, and 57 BA theses at HU Berlin as well as 1 PhD dissertation (ongoing), 22 MA dissertations and 48 BA dissertations at City, University of London.


Teaching Evaluations

You can view and download a complete record of my teaching evaluations. For teaching evaluations at Ohio State click here, for teaching evaluations at HU Berlin (in German) click here, for teaching evaluations at City University of London click here.

A note on HU Berlin teaching evaluations

Blue lines, bars, and circles in the diagrams displayed in these documents refer to the instructor and his courses. Writing and graphics underneath, in light grey, are averaged comparison values. Note that the format is different for Spring semester 2013. Here, the evaluation report begins with two questions about student characteristics (number of semesters studied, and age). It then moves on to report information about student responses to 9 Likert scale items on a scale from 1 to 5 (where 1 is the most positive outcome for all questions). This section begins with "Der Dozent hat den Kursinhalt gut organisiert" and it ends with "Der Dozent war in der Lage, die Kursinhalte verständlich zu kommunizieren." The final two questions on the first page report the summary assessment of the course and then the overall assessment of the instructor (both on a grading scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is the highest grade and 5 the lowest).

A note on teaching evaluations at City University of London

The evaluations are about classes (modules), which often include several instructors, rather than individual instructors.


Teaching philosophy

An interactive pedagogical approach, solid organization, an empowering environment, and intellectual curiosity are the basic pillars of my approach to effective instruction. On this foundation, what I believe makes me a good teacher is my passion for teaching and learning, which permeates all aspects of my philosophy and practice of teaching.

During my substantial and diverse teaching experience, I have found out that I learn as much from my students as they learn from me. Motivated by the desire to permanently improve my teaching I constantly adjust and rethink my lesson plans in response to feedback from students and peers. My approach to teaching and pedagogy is based on an interactive method embracing diversity in students’ backgrounds, motivations, and learning styles. I make a sustained effort to incorporate student diversity into all my classes. For instance, I empower students by asking them to present their own national, ethnic, and social experiences to the class, and I use their stories to offer multiple perspectives on a specific course topic. Acknowledging that students have different motivations and goals, I emphasize not only the essential knowledge of a course, but also the acquisition of key qualifications such as critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and cooperation, as well as competence in written and oral expression.

To accommodate various learning styles and to teach the course content effectively, I use varied techniques of instruction: lecture segments, guided class discussions, individual research, and reading assignments as well as case studies, simulations, and scenarios. I employ PowerPoint slides as well as audio and video media to diversify the presentation, and, most importantly, to teach my students how to become intelligent and informed consumers of various types of political information. However, in an era of potentially harmful sensory overload, I always balance the use of modern technology with in-depth learning through intensive and reflective reading, listening and comprehension, as well as considerate debate.

By linking theoretical and conceptual issues to specific examples and current debates, and by encouraging student engagement, my courses aim to help students become more knowledgeable political agents and participatory citizens. This approach allows me to empower students to see the value of what they learn and to apply class material to their own lives. I have found that once students see the relevance of what they learn in class, they will naturally begin to ask more questions and gain new perspectives. My courses are therefore designed to make students globally competent persons and informed participants in a society with numerous channels of information and communication. I also strive to constantly stimulate their curiosity and to encourage them to voice their informed opinions in a critical manner.

An interactive class environment, a responsive and approachable instructor, as well as a coherent course organization are fundamental prerequisites for an effective learning process. I have found that students learn better in classes that facilitate their sustained engagement and empowerment, whenever the instructor provides just the right amount of guidance for student activities through feedback and intervention. By the same token, I make sure that my expositions are always accompanied by opportunities for student intervention and participation. I also afford students the opportunity to take personal responsibility for their learning process through self-monitoring. I encourage them to think independently, to question the course content, as well as to identify and explore topics that they find most interesting or relevant.

In my practice of teaching at Ohio State and Humboldt University, I have designed and frequently taught seventeen different courses, in varying formats, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. I have also made a substantial contribution to PhD, MA, and BA thesis advising, both as primary adviser and committee member. While some of my courses are closely connected to my core research expertise, I have also had the opportunity to teach introductory and more broadly designed classes about the thematic and methodological foundations of our discipline. Among those foundational courses – both seminars and large lectures with around 150 students – are introductory surveys of comparative politics and international relations, as well as an overview about the development of states, art, music, and architecture in Western Europe. My introductory and advanced thematic courses for undergraduate and graduate students encompass topics such as globalization, European integration, political parties, social movements, and comparative democratic institutions. I have also taught advanced methods classes for graduate students about methodological approaches and data analysis in comparative politics, theory and practice of experimentation, research design, and comparative case studies.

The quality of my teaching has been recognized on several occasions. The department of Political Science at Ohio State has issued commendations for teaching excellence for all of my classes. In September 2005 I received the departmental Henry M. Spencer Teaching Award. In April 2006 I was nominated – as one among ten outstanding teachers from a population of 3000 graduate teaching associates – for the Ohio State Graduate Teaching Award. Excellent scores on student evaluation reports have consistently ranked me among the top instructors at both Ohio State and Humboldt University. These recognitions and the additional feedback from students and peers contribute to sustain my intense desire to work with my students and learn from them, to create an environment that will make them realize the power of their own mind, and to foster a sense of intellectual and informed curiosity for the world in which they live.