Teaching
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Learning is really self-improvement—it means knowing more, appreciating more perspectives, and thinking more deeply about things today than you did yesterday. With this in mind I strive constantly to learn myself. That’s part of my job. And in the classroom this makes me think of myself as kind of a coach. A good coach aims to get the most out of his players. This requires effort—on my part, of course—but also on the part of students. Just as you can’t expect to play your best soccer or hockey without putting serious work into practicing, you can’t expect to learn without effort. And so I expect students to read assigned materials, to get in the practice of discussing readings in depth, and to hone their logic and writing. This way students don’t just learn from me—they encounter firsthand the most interesting and influential arguments about human society ever written—and in the end that’s far more important than what I as an individual could contribute alone. All this imparts skills that any college graduate should have, which are useful in most professions. Just as importantly, it offers the chance to become a well informed citizen and the opportunity to serve others.
Courses Taught
PS 105 - Introduction to American Government and Politics
PS 106 - Honors: Introduction to American Government and Politics
PS 108 - Essentials of Civic Engagement
PS 112 - Power, Justice and the State
ID 175 - Honors: Ethics
PS 312 - Experiential Study
PS 324 - US Presidency
PS 325/377 - Foundations of American Political Thought
PS 331/378 - Modern American Political Thought
PS 349 - Foundations of Political Theory
PS 351 - Political Film
PS 355 - Modern Political Thought
PS 365 - Congress in the American Political System
PS 370 - Lincoln’s Politics
PS 372 - British Political Thought (Study Abroad)
PS 401 - Political Analysis (Capstone)
