Teaching

I am a passionate educator who brings a variety of teaching experiences, strategies, exercises, and topical knowledge into every class. At the core of my teaching philosophy is the belief that any student that walks through the classroom doors is capable of learning any concept, theory, and idea that I am capable of understanding. Although every student comes to class from different backgrounds, experiences, skillsets, and degrees of confidence, I believe it is my role as an instructor to not only introduce these ideas and devise creative assignments to apply them, but, most importantly, to instill in students the confidence and passion for deeply grasping any intellectual work.

There are a few key principles that not only guide this pedagogical strategy but also make it effective in practice—and the feedback I have received from students, including being both nominated and awarded Outstanding Graduate Instructor of the Year (for which I received the most student nominations ever submitted in department history), attest to its effectiveness.

I strive to always be overtly passionate about the topics we discuss in class, and in so doing directly embody an excitement not only for learning these concepts but also for grounding them in everyday experiences and engagements with the world.

Students are acutely aware of the extent to which their instructors are excited about the ideas and invested in their learning, and I have found that when I embody a passion and excitement about both the ideas being taught and the students’ learning, they are much more likely to match that degree of excitement, interest, and personal investment in the course. I believe it is my role as the instructor to make students want to come to class and invest in their own learning.

I approach each course as an experience unto itself for which it is my role as the instructor to shape and facilitate, taking seriously every detail for pedagogical ends.

When planning each course, I do not simply organize the syllabus based on the range of theories, concepts, and assignments to be covered throughout the semester. Rather, I begin with a set of broader takeaways, intellectual connections, and lines of questioning/thinking that I want students to seemingly arrive at on their own by the end of the semester, and then work my way backwards to purposefully weave assignments and readings into this broader vision for the course.

The pedagogical intentionality that I bring into every aspect of the classroom experience also informs the readings and assignments for each course, and especially so for the grading and detailed feedback I provide to students.

Out of my deep respect for students’ time and energy, I never assign readings or give assignments as work for its own sake; each is carefully crafted towards the broader vision I set out for the course. I also provide extensive and constructive feedback on assignments with the goal of improving students’ learning and mastery of the material. I strive to incorporate writing assignments that require students to formulate and organize their own views, ideas, and critical analyses, with the goal that each assignment does not yield the same or even similar responses from every student, crafting assignments so that the ideas being taught are borne out in the very process of the assignment.

Finally, just as my own learning was deeply shaped by mentoring, I strive to be a mentor to any student that seeks it, providing ample opportunities for office hours so that students can get any support they need to thrive in the course.

Courses Taught:

University of Richmond:

SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology/Foundations of Society

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023

SOC 279: Governing Health, Medicine, and the Body

Fall 2022, Fall 2023

SOC 305: Conformity, Deviance, and Institutional Social Control

Fall 2021, Fall 2023

SOC 379: On Drugs—Pleasure, Panic, and Punishment

Spring 2022, Spring 2023“Outstanding Graduate Instructor of the Year” Award)

University of Minnesota:

SOC 3801: Sociological Research Methods

Fall 2018 (Nominated for “Outstanding Graduate Instructor of the Year” Award)

SOC 3811: Social Statistics (Lab Instructor)

Spring 2019, Spring 2020 (Nominated for “Outstanding TA of the Year” Award)

SOC 4111: Deviant Behavior

Fall 2019 (Winner of “Outstanding Graduate Instructor of the Year” Award)

SOCC 4246: Sociology of Health & Illness (online)

Summer 2019, Summer 2020