WHY I TEACH

My teaching aims to educate students for a life well-lived. My students walk away from class with the conviction that understanding who and what we are – the goal of political study – is an inherently difficult but worthwhile endeavor. To that end, I introduce my students to the great questions of political life, so they can grasp the nature of modern liberal democracy as well as the major alternatives to it.

As a corollary to this overarching aim, I want my students to gain the skills necessary for self-government and participation in civil society. First, I prod my students to obtain a measure of intellectual grit. Politics raises very tough questions and fundamental challenges that can only be solved, or at least investigated, through prolonged and careful study. Second, I cultivate an appreciation for our political traditions. Coming face-to-face with Xenophon, Augustine, Locke, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther King exposes students to beauty and nobility that both transcend our own time and deepen our understanding of America’s unique institutions and historical experience. Third, as a teacher I aim to help produce good writers and collegial discussants. My students are encouraged to focus relentlessly on the essentials of arguing a thesis and assessing evidence.

TEACHING INTERESTS

American Politics, Political Science, Political Thought, Religion and Politics, Political Economy, American Political Thought.

SYLLABI

Fall 2023 – Intro to American Political System

MENTORING

Working with undergraduates and graduate students on their own intellectual and career interests is one of the things I enjoy most about teaching! I have written letters of recommendation, provided mock interviews, successfully nominated students for summer programs, and tutored students alongside regular teaching duties.