teaching

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Teaching Philosophy

My fundamental goal as a teacher is for my students to develop into lifelong learners—who are employed after college. To the first point, I want them to realize that learning continues after the final exam. I teach them to resist a closed mindset. To my second point, my approach is tempered by a pragmatic understanding of the realities of the job market. I teach my students the skills necessary to excel outside of college. My teaching philosophy entails three components/objectives to achieve this dual goal: guiding students to fairly evaluate opposing ideas, providing a foundation of knowledge that allows them to make sense of complex ideas in both domestic and international politics, and giving them real-life critical thinking skills. For more details, please read my teaching philosophy. Also, here are some assignments that I have successfully used in my classes: the Policy Memo helps students critically assess a difficult policy problem and the Briefing Memo teaches students how to write clearly and succinctly. I've tailored them both in a variety of courses to match the learning objectives of the class.

Teaching Experience

While at Anderson University, I taught on average four courses a semester. Before that, I taught courses at the University of Buffalo and the University of Virginia. I was also a Teacher's Assistant for four years at the University of Virginia before completing my Ph.D. From those experiences, I can teach of range of introductory courses in political science, advanced courses in international relations, as well as applied courses in national security. I am also comfortable developing new courses, whether they be in my direct area of expertise or tangentially related to my training.

Fall 2018
Introduction to Politics
Introduction to International Relations
Political Science Research Methods
Terrorism and Political Violence

Spring 2019
Civilian Perspectives on Political Violence
International Relations
Homeland Security
Model United Nations

Fall 2019
Introduction to Politics
Introduction to National Security
Political Science Research Methods
Model United Nations

Spring 2020
International Political Economy
Intelligence and Security Studies
Model United Nations

Fall 2020
Introduction to Politics
Introduction to National Security
Political Science Research Methods
Terrorism and Political Violence
Model United Nations

Spring 2021
Public Policy
Civilian Perspectives on Political Violence
International Security
Homeland Security
Senior Seminar

Teaching Awards, Grants, and Evaluations

As demonstrated by my course evaluations, collaborative research projects, and teaching awards, I am committed to experiential learning. A summary of my course evaluations from Anderson University is available here.

In addition to work in the classroom, I have collaborated extensively with undergraduate students. I received the Faculty Development Grant from Anderson University, which supported collaboration with an undergraduate student for the summer of 2019. We conducted research on the use of air power by nuclear-capable states. During the summer of 2015, I collaborated with eight undergraduate students from former classes as part of the Triple Hoo Research Grant, a university-funded initiative that integrates faculty, graduate, and undergraduate research. We developed a survey experiment testing whether the gender and/or race of military casualties influences public opinion toward military conflict and presented our findings to the University of Virginia Alumni Association.

I received the Alison J. Meloy Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award through the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia in 2016, an annual award recognizing the best teaching assistant in the department. I also received the Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching from the University of Virginia in 2016, the highest honor conferred to a graduate instructor at the University of Virginia. The latter award especially prioritizes those teaching assistants who utilize creative teaching methods.