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Teaching Statement
Teaching Statement
“Education,” in its purest sense, is best understood by examining the origin of the word itself: ex ducere, meaning “to lead out.” Through rigorous study and intentional dialogue, liberal arts instructors are meant to draw ideas out from the minds of students, transforming their way of seeing and interacting with the world. In the spirit of liberal education, my goal as an educator is to bring my students to think theoretically about politics. I aim to provide students the tools to move beyond quantitative and qualitative approaches to political science, equipping them to engage politics through a historically informed lens.
Courses Taught at Florida State University
Tocqueville's Democracy in America
Tocqueville's Democracy in America
Fall 2025
Lincoln’s famous claim that American democracy was “the last best hope of earth” is now an open question. But what exactly is democracy, and how has it shaped America’s past—and where is it leading its future? This course explores these questions through a close reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (De la démocratie en Amérique), a profound and prophetic account of American political life, society, and culture at a time when the “equality of conditions” was reshaping the world.
Civil Discourse and the American Political Order
Civil Discourse and the American Political Order
Fall 2025
What is civil discourse? And does the American political order require civil discourse properly to function? This course takes up these questions. In the process, it explores the historical and philosophical roots of equality, toleration and free speech, requisites of civil discourse. Students will also consider the role of free speech and civil discourse, not only in the context of American civic life but within the context of American university life.
Courses Taught at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Critical Thinking & Expression: Arguments in Political Rhetoric
Critical Thinking & Expression: Arguments in Political Rhetoric
Instructor of Record (Spring 2025, Fall 2022)
This course teaches students to understand and practice critical thought and persuasion by reading, critiquing, and performing great speeches from history. We will learn through engagement with the content of this class what constitutes an effective argument, and we will learn to craft such effective arguments ourselves. In addition, we will learn to distinguish persuasive rhetoric from truth seeking rhetoric.
Deception and Politics
Deception and Politics
Instructor of Record (Spring 2023, Fall 2023)
What is the role of truth and deception in politics? This course allows us to assess this question through a study of great political texts.
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