Teaching Experiences
I have instructed several courses in political science. See descriptions and student evaluations for courses I have taught below.
Photo credit: Debbie Hudson
Arguments, Data, and Politics. Instructor. University of Houston, Fall 2022; Spring 2023.
Description: The increasing availability of empirical data allows us to ask and explore important questions in the political world. How do people make voting decisions? Do campaign contributions influence legislative policy making? Do media frames of political issues impact public opinion? These are just a few political questions that data, arguments, research designs, and methods can help answer. This course focuses on developing the research design skills and methodological tools to interpret and analyze data. In the first half of the course, we will focus on research design and learn how to organize our approach to studying political phenomena in the real world. We will learn how to ask research questions and propose hypotheses, what data are and why they are useful, how to define and measure concepts, and develop research studies to test them. In the second half the course, we will build a “research methods tool kit,” focusing on developing the methodological skills (i.e., statistical analysis, interviews etc.) needed to implement research studies.
Political Views and Civic Engagement. Instructor. University of Houston, Spring 2022.
Description: A well-functioning democracy relies on the political engagement of its citizens. How do Americans develop attitudes about political actors, candidates, parties, issues, and institutions? Do these attitudes translate into meaningful political preferences? How do citizens express these attitudes, through traditional forms of political participation like voting and campaigning, and contentious actives, like protest? Are there differences in political behavior across lines of race, class, gender, and sexuality in a diverse society? In this course, we will engage with these types of questions to explore how citizens develop and express political attitudes. We will focus on civic engagement and the development of political views in the United States, casting a wide net to study these processes among a diverse range of citizens.
Race, Gender, and Ethnic Politics. Instructor. University of Houston, Fall 2021; Spring 2022; Spring 2023.
Description: This seminar will explore the role of race, ethnicity, and gender in shaping political behavior. We will explore a range of topics and questions including the following examples: How do we conceptualize and measure race, ethnicity, and gender in political science research? How do the experiences of African Americans shape political behavior? How do Latinos, Asian Americans, and other immigrant groups develop political attitudes? Is there a gender gap in political participation?
American Political Behavior. Instructor. University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2020.
Description: This seminar explores how Americans develop and express political attitudes. A major goal of this course is to help you to prepare for the comprehensive examination in American Politics. By the end of the class, you will develop a comprehensive understanding of canonical and emergent literature in American political behavior. You also will learn how to construct arguments about political behavior, drawing on evidence from the literature. On the way to these ultimate goals, you will learn how to evaluate existing theories by recognizing what behaviors they explain and identifying where they fall short. This course is divided into five modules that are centered around important concepts in political behavior: (1) Core concepts in American political behavior; (2) Do people have meaningful political attitudes?; (3) The political effects of mass and social media; (4) Political participation and (5) Race, ethnicity, and politics.
The Mass Media, Social Media, and American Politics. Head Assistant Instructor. Princeton University, Fall 2017. With Professor Andrew Guess.
Description: This course considers the role of the media in American politics and the influence of mass and social media on Americans’ political attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We will examine the nature of news and news-making organizations, the role of the news media in electoral campaigns, how the media shape the behavior of politicians once in office, political advertising, and the ability of social media to facilitate collective action. The course is designed both to impart information and to raise issues which may not have clear or easy answers. This will especially be the case when we discuss the role of the internet and social media in contemporary American politics. Precepts are a critical part of the class as they provide an opportunity to grapple with these issues –– to explore the pros and cons of objectivity as a journalistic norm, the ways in which news and entertainment have become blurred in the mass media, whether social media contributes to political polarization, and so on.
Applied Quantitative Analysis II. Assistant Instructor. Princeton University, Spring 2016. With Professor Omar Wasow.
Description: In a world awash in data, how can we distinguish signals from noise? This course focuses on developing an intuition for statistics and applying it through data analysis, regression models and a final project. We will wrestle with what makes a good research question, play with data to see how statistical methods can help us make sense of real world concerns, and work at communicating quantitative findings clearly to broad audiences. Particular attention will be paid to applying these techniques in Junior Papers and Senior Theses. Coursework involves using the R statistical platform.
Experimental Methods in Politics. Assistant Instructor. Princeton University, Fall 2016. With Professor Ali Valenzuela.
Description: The use of experiments to study and influence politics is widespread and growing, partly because they can give conclusive results not possible with surveys or other data. No longer confined to the lab, political scientists and campaign operatives use new technology to conduct experiments on thousands of voters in real elections. Massive political experiments have been conducted on Facebook, by mail and telephone, but is it ethical to influence politics in pursuit of new knowledge? What have experiments taught us about voting, race, and representation in America? This class will cover these and other aspects of using experiments in politics.