Teaching

My teaching and courses stress three main goals: provide students with substantive knowledge to be informed citizens, help them form a deeper understanding of the material, and increase their capacity to critically evaluate political events and processes. My objective is to develop the students' analytical skills necessary to understand and objectively interpret political facts and data.

I teach courses spanning from introductory to advanced level undergraduate, as well as graduate level classes (both Master’s and Ph.D.). The wide range of courses, material covered, requirements, and varying levels of student preparation require an approach with a focus on the students’ needs and with student engagement as a leading principle. I believe that providing a perspective for the material covered by using real-world examples and applications to the students’ lives and future careers can be a powerful tool in student engagement. Part of my teaching philosophy is the idea that the different backgrounds, levels of preparation, diverse personal experiences, and career goals should not be seen as impediments or hurdles to overcome, but instead as features that can only enhance the learning process. In my teaching, I take the approach that any student is capable of fully understanding complex ideas and challenging material, and it is my duty as the educator to facilitate that process.