Sino Esthappan - Teaching

Instructor of Record

Introduction to Criminology

Hofstra University, Fall 2026, Spring 2027

Punishment and Society

Hofstra University, Fall 2026, Spring 2027

Sociological Research Methods and Analysis

Northwestern University, Spring 2024

Race, Punishment, and Institutional Change

Northwestern University, Winter 2024

Teaching Assistant

Law and Society

Northwestern University, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Fall 2023

Gender and Society

Northwestern University, Spring 2022, Fall 2022

Other Roles

Grader for Gender and Society

Northwestern University, Spring 2023

Peer Mentor for English Language Programs

Northwestern University, Summer 2022

Grader for Introduction to Sociology

Northwestern University, Spring 2021

Photo at the 2026 Weinberg College Teaching Awards at Northwestern University

Select Student Reviews

Race, Punishment, and Institutional Change

This is my favorite class I have ever taken at Northwestern, and I can't imagine another one will top this. We had the opportunity to have so many hands-on experiences engaging with the topic, such as a trip to the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, data analysis in R, and interviewing other students. We also had guest speakers almost every week that kept the class very engaging and exciting. Sino is also the best prof ever. He brought his dog to class often, baked us cookies, and was so lenient about deadlines and grades. He truly cares about his students and does anything he can to help them, even outside of his class specifically. TAKE THIS CLASS!
I learned a lot and felt that everything I learned was extremely valuable. Sino is a wonderful professor and he does an amazing job of encouraging students to be their best and stimulating interest and engagement with the subject of the class. It is also very clear that he cares about each of his students and wants to ensure everyone learns, which makes people care about the class and want to do well. I genuinely wish there were more professors like him because I think people would learn much better and care about their classes.
His personality seems to me like the exact fit for teaching. Someone with so much passion for the subject while having so much compassion for his students. Most importantly, you can tell he is eager to make changes in the community, and he has found his way of doing that, educating and equipping students who are going to be the next generation of policymakers, lawyers, journalists, and activists.

Law and Society (Teaching Assistant)

Wow! Sino was such an amazing TA! Not only was he knowledgeable about the topics at hand and able to easily facilitate discussion sections, but he was also a simply amazing human to work with. Sino was extremely kind at all times, and it was also evident that he wanted all of his students to succeed. Outside of discussion, Sino would even send our section clarifying explanations about the material to ensure that we understood concepts to the best of our abilities. After our midterm, Sino brought our discussion section chocolate and told us how proud he was of all of our hard work. As a first-year, I was not sure what to expect from a TA; I was talking with a junior in our discussion section who told me that Sino was by far the best TA she has ever had. No doubt, I would not have understood the course material as well if I didn't have Sino as my TA. The only issue I have with having Sino as a TA during my first quarter is that his kindness and dedication to discussion sections may have set the bar too high for other TAs I have over the next four years! Seriously, thank you Sino!
SINO IS THE BEST TA EVER. I wish every TA was more like him. He is the nicest and soo thoughtful. He really just wants to help us understand the material and do well in the class. He comes into discussion with a well thought out plan/structure and specific information that he wants to cover and make sure we understand it. He also explains things extremely well. For example he takes the confusing and long readings that I never understand and is able to summarize them into easy to grasp concepts/bullet points that make perfect sense. He also asked for feedback – and although I and probably most others had nothing bad to say at all – he still tried to make discussions even more catered to what we wanted. He brought us candy and gave us words of encouragement before tests. He also made sure we were all super prepared for tests and quizzes. Overall Sino is the best TA ever and I could go on forever about how great he was! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING SINO!
I cannot speak highly enough of Sino. He made this class worth taking. He clearly cares strongly about his students, and his feedback helped me immensely in the class and also made me a better writer. His instruction had the greatest positive impact on my academic path this quarter.