Teaching
“I love teaching statistics” is a rarely uttered phrase, even among academic circles. But I mean it. I love showing students both the power and perils of numbers, especially when used to measure human behavior and society. To put it simply, teaching is a priority for me. Similar to all of my courses, I use humor, real-world examples, and new technologies to teach sometimes dry or highly technical concepts and methods. These methods earned me an Outstanding Teaching Award while I was still a graduate student.
I've been teaching at the university level for over ten years - with courses including Quantitative Techniques (Statistics), International Relations, US Foreign Policy, Globalization and Global Governance, International Security, Comparative Politics, and First-Year Seminars in International Politics. I’ve taught across multiple institutions, such as Northeastern University, Tufts University, Bridgewater State University, and currently at Mount Holyoke College.
I have also served as an Honors Thesis Advisor for multiple students at Bridgewater State University.
Please read my teaching philosophy for details. A sample of recent class syllabi and a summary of teaching evaluations are available below.
POLI 473: Globalization & Global Governance
How can our 21st-century global society best regulate the global commons and promote peace and security? This course provides a thorough understanding of the nature of globalization, the new and varied forms of social, economic and political interactions it has produced in the world, and the challenge of governing the resulting complex interdependencies among subnational, national, regional, international, and non-governmental actors. First, the class begins with a historical and theoretical overview of globalization and calls for global governance, most strongly reflected in post-World War II institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the economic institutions arising from the Bretton Woods conference, dubbed “the Washington Consensus”. Next, it will move to explore the “building blocks” of international governance, including international organizations (IGOs) as well as non-state actors (including non-governmental organizations). The remainder of the course will cover the most pivotal issues surrounding globalization and the challenges facing global governance, such as issues in international security, human rights, the economic order, and the environment, amongst many others.
In this course, students will have the chance to investigate the forces of globalization from the perspective of different states, international leaders, economic classes, and various organizations. They will also participate in a Model UN simulation to experience the challenges to global governance in a more applied way. We will rely upon a wide array of case studies to offer a diverse sample of regional political issues, important actors, and ideological assumptions so that students are well-equipped to assess and decide upon their own worldviews and what solutions might be required to support the growth of peace and security in an era of increasing global interdependencies.
POLI 384: US Foreign Policy
How does the United States of America (US) define and pursue its national interests abroad across time and space? How should it engage with other countries and global institutions, based on shifting norms and ethical expectations? In this course, we will first embark upon a fast-paced expedition through the historical origins of the US’s foreign policy preferences, path dependencies, and outcomes to understand and critique the core ideologies and events that have shaped US global interactions. Thus, the course will introduce you to pivotal US foreign policy eras, characterized by distinct national objectives and a unique combination of tools of statecraft (War, Trade, and Diplomacy). As we progress through the history of US foreign policy, we will learn how to apply theories of international relations and grand strategic frameworks to past, present, and future US political decisions and trajectories, from the perspective of individual leaders, state institutions, special interest groups, corporations, the public, and more. We will debate the moral standards by which we adjudicate US foreign policy “means and ends,” and we will evaluate the institutions and strategies that formulate and enforce foreign policy.
The course concludes by focusing on contemporary issues and regions where the US faces grave, acute, or changing policy challenges – including US foreign policy related to global security, economic, and humanitarian crises; climate/environmental policies; Global War on Terror (GWOT); interventions in the name of democracy-promotion; and great power relations and new rivalries in a shifting multipolar world order. As a unique component, this class will introduce new empirical trends from the Military Intervention Project (MIP) across every key era of US foreign policy.
POLS 2400: Quantitative Techniques/ POLI 250: Applied Methods in Political Science
This course presents a basic development of social science statistical techniques and methods, emphasizing applications of value to policymakers and researchers alike in the fields of political science, international affairs, and public policy. The main topics and methods covered include descriptive statistics, basic probability, binomial and normal probability distributions, hypothesis testing, differences-between-groups tests, correlation, linear regression, and multiple regression. As part of each learning module, we examine how to generate and interpret statistical analyses through SPSS software. Examples of qualitative research techniques will also be introduced during the course.
This course will focus on making you effective practitioners of statistical analysis so that you can apply this method to political assessments and interpretations, whether as part of graduate studies, employment, or as an analytical consumer of information. You will learn the math behind the statistics so that you have a deep enough understanding to present your findings to a general audience and to confront any data manipulations in the real world. Finally, you will learn how to explain statistical results in a way that is understandable to an intelligent but statistically untrained reader.
POLI 260: Introduction to International Relations
At its essence, International Relations (IR) is the study of the conditions under which conflict and cooperation emerge across state borders and global actors, whether in terms of security, economics, human rights, law, or environmental dynamics. By identifying the root causes and patterns that drive such global interactions, we may learn how to shape political outcomes to prevent wars, promote security and human rights, stimulate economic growth, eradicate poverty, and build a just peace within international society.
This course provides a broad introduction to world politics through the lens of International Relations theories, assuming no prior knowledge in the discipline. It balances empirical applications with theoretical analysis. In other words, you’ll have the chance to connect abstract academic theories and conceptual tools of the social scientist to the messy realities of our world. This process will sharpen your critical thinking, encourage you to investigate your core values and beliefs, and enable you to evaluate current events through divergent prisms.
We will examine several theoretical approaches that can explain patterns and power dynamics in world politics, including realism, liberalism, Marxism, constructivism, and feminism. Alongside these perspectives, we will analyze global issues at various levels of analysis, such as the “big picture” (the international system), the internal dynamics of the state (the group or domestic politics), and the cognitive proclivities of the human mind (individual decision-making). As part of these explorations, we will also confront how contemporary international relations remains marked by its racist past and biased institutional legacies. The final section of the course considers a variety of contemporary challenges for international governance, including humanitarian intervention in the post-Cold War era, trade liberalization, refugee crises, terrorism, and environmental degradation.
ESADE-Fletcher Executive Education Intensive Program in International Security and Peace Operations (Fletcher School, Tufts University)
This intensive, fast-paced course with both online and in-person components introduces students to the main theories and critical issues in international security. First, we will cover the basic frameworks and theoretical scaffolding that have guided the study of international security, including the theories of realism, liberalism, and constructivism. We will ask: What is security? How has the state system and the role of force evolved over time to envision security? We will then explore a range of key issues in international security, especially in the context of armed conflict, peace operations, and post-conflict rebuilding. These issues include but are not limited to: the causes of conventional and unconventional wars; the usage and effectiveness of force abroad, including the threat of nuclear weapons; civil wars and crimes against humanity; peacekeeping operations and humanitarian interventions; climate security; U.S. grand strategy; and the prospects of international security and peace in the 21st century.
The main objective of the course is to provide students with (1) an understanding of how the international system of states manages insecurity; by (2) identifying the most important features and dynamics in world politics; as well as (3) the key challenges to international security into the future.