“Schools function as sites for direct experiences of civic authority relations. It is at the schoolhouse that most individuals have their first, formative experiences of how public institutions and authorities govern” (Bruch and Soss 2018)
For the 2018-2019 year, I served as a Searle Graduate Teaching Fellow and led the Political Science Teaching Committee, which organizes pedagogical discussions, the new TA mentorship program, and teaching observations. I have also led cross-disciplinary workshops on Lesson Planning around Learning Objectives, Inclusive Teaching, and Small Group Work. I was honored to receive the Minar Prize for Teaching Excellence by a Graduate Student in Political Science Department and was nominated for the Weinberg College Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award. During my time at Northwestern, I have served as an Instructor and Teaching Assistant for the classes below.
INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD
Civil Wars and Violence Spring 2019
Course Description:
What is civil war and how does it differ from other types of violence and armed conflict? How do civilians make choices when violent conflict breaks out? Why do they sometimes successfully resist armed groups but other times flee their homes or join those groups? Why do state armies and rebels sometimes fight and other times cooperate? These are some of the questions we will address in this course. Civil wars have become the most common form of conflict in the post-Cold War period. From Colombia to Syria to Congo, non-state armed organizations have become crucially important actors for understanding civilians’ lives. The course explores how armed actors organize themselves, extract resources, deploy violence, attract recruits, and interact with states. The majority of the course will focus on these processes and concepts by examining specific civil wars that have occurred since World War II, drawing on cases from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and post-Soviet states. Students explore a topic or case of particular interest to them more deeply in a research paper. The goal of the course is to provide students with a framework for asking and answering questions about civil war processes so they can have tools to be engaged learners long after the course ends.
TEACHING ASSISTANT
Introduction to Comparative Politics (Head T.A.)
Middle East Politics (Head T.A.)
US Foreign Policy (Guest Lecture: Humanitarian Intervention)
Social Movements
Comparative Political Economy of Development
Environmental Policy
