TEACHING

Awards, Honors, & Certificates




Teaching Philosophy 

As a teacher, I have three overarching pedagogical goals for my students. My first goal is to promote critical thinking by stimulating curiosity about puzzles in social sciences so that my students consider evidence while thinking critically about contemporary news and events as well as craft logical arguments and make informed decisions in their personal and professional endeavors. My second goal is to help students develop general transferrable skillsets that will lead to future success in their professional lives. Finally, I strive to promote inclusivity, tolerance, and understanding to prepare students to engage in a multicultural world as well-informed, and tolerant citizens.  To achieve these goals, I follow a multi-method instructional approach conducive to different learners which rests on three principles: (1) motivation and preparedness, (2) active participation, and (3) real-world application.


In the classroom setting, I rely on a combination of lectures, discussions, role-play, games, films, and other multimedia. I emphasize the real-world relevance of concepts and theories of political science. I draw connections between course material and current events, historical cases, and my own life and past professional experiences of working with international organizations, and often share my own experiences with war, poverty, discrimination, and immigration. This adds a personal touch to the real-world relevance of course material, promotes tolerance and understanding, as well as aids students’ ability to apply course material to a diverse set of situations ranging from the individual to the global.


I emphasize and promote the understanding that everyone is unique and recognize our differences. I diversify course materials to recognize the contributions of scholarly and historically excluded communities and alternative views. For instance, scholarship by Alexander Barder, Amitav Acharya, Edward Said, Kelebogile Zvobgo, Kwame Nkrumah, Qin Yaqing, Yan Xuetong, and W.E.B Dubois’s work on race in international politics, among other critical works are included or consulted in my international relations and comparative courses. During my lectures, I often remind students about the foundational role race and racism played in the historical development of international relations, especially the reliance of some scholars on “Darwinist” notions of racial hierarchies. I have also introduced my students in International and Comparative Politics to pervasive “Orientalism” in American academia and ways to detect “orientalist” approaches to scholarship.


Teaching experience and Interests

I am passionate about teaching a wide range of topics. My teaching interests broadly fall in the fields of international relations, comparative politics, policy, civil and ethnic conflicts, international recognition, imperialism,  research methods, and politics of the Middle East and Central and South Asia. 


I served as the primary instructor and teaching assistant for the following courses:


Primary Instructor, University of Kentucky

INT/ PS 340: Model United Nations (Fall 2022), Syllabus

PS 101: American Government, (Spring 2022), Syllabus 

PS 210: Comparative Politics (Fall 2021), Syllabus

PS 372: Political Analysis (Spring 2021), Syllabus

PS 230: International Relations (Fall 2020, Winter 2020), Syllabus


Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky

PS 230: International Relations (Spring 2020)

PS 210: Comparative Politics (Fall 2019) 


Teaching Assistant, Wright State University

PLS 2000: Power and Politics (Spring 2016, 2017)

PLS 4100: Political Psychology (Fall 2016)

PLS 4280: Regional Studies Africa (Spring 2016)

PLS 4560: Politics of Europe (Fall 2015)

PLS 3020: Introduction to Comparative Politics (Fall 2015)