Teaching

Courses Taught

Terrorism and Counterterrorism (POLS-Y 300, Fall 2022)

Course Description:

This course will examine why individuals and groups resort to the use of terror. To that end, we will trace the origins of terrorist organizations, their methods of recruitment, their choice of tactics, how terrorist groups disband, and the conditions for the success or failure of terrorism.

Syllabus: 

American Political Controversies (POLS-Y 103, Fall 2021)

Course Description:

This course explores American politics through an examination of controversial topics throughout American political history. This course seeks to explore the most important political controversies in American political history. We will examine argument for and against controversial political views, as well as the political processes and institutions that determine how these arguments are perpetuated or resolved. We will explore both current hot-button issues as well as the historical political controversies that continue to shape American government and society.

Syllabus:

Democracy and National Security (POLS-Y 311, Summer 2021)

Course Description: 

Democracy and national security are both desirable political outcomes. Yet the pursuit of security often infringes upon individual liberty, while abuses of certain liberties jeopardize national security. Democratic states often find themselves in a balancing act, seeking to protect the life of their citizens without compromising their liberty. This course will explore these tensions between democracy and national security, as well as how democracy may enhance security in certain circumstances. Along the way we will discuss how democracies wage war, combat terrorism, and counter internal threats. This course will draw heavily from the experience of the United States, including the Covid-19 pandemic, 9/11 and the Global War on Terror, World War II, and the American Civil War. It will also include lessons from other democratic contexts—such as Ireland, India, and Taiwan—exploring how these states have balanced liberty and security concerns differently than the United States and dealt with threats that the United States has not faced in order to learn from their mistakes and successes. 

Syllabus: