Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

I am passionate about engaged and active learning and believe that the Socratic method is the best way to make both happen for students. I seek to encourage student participation in both seminars and larger lecture courses. And I have justified the use of the question-and-answer format in the classroom in my 2019 book review of Lee Trepanier's The Socratic Method Today: Student-Centered Teaching that appeared in the APSA Journal of Political Science Education. Although I do think that a place remains for a professor explaining things step by step at the head of the classroom or conveying hard to digest information in a measured way, wherever possible I strive to elicit student responses and build on them for the sake of experiential learning that is transformative for student and teacher alike.

Teaching Goals

Three broad goals inform my teaching: i) I strive to cultivate in my students a deep appreciation for close and careful reading, ii) I aim to include every one of them in an engaged and active learning process, and iii) I work to increase awareness of the importance of writing with clarity. To achieve these goals, I ground all of my courses in the testimony of historically significant political texts, rely on the Socratic method to stimulate student engagement with them, and place great emphasis on re-writing and peer review. My goal for every class meeting is to facilitate experiential learning that is transformative for both student and teacher alike.

Courses

Introduction to American Government
Federal Government
Texas Government (Texas Constitution and Topics)
Comparative State and Local Government
Congress and the Presidency
Competing Visions of Statesmanship
Foundations of Statesmanship and Public Policy

Introduction to Political Science
Capstone Course in Political Science
Recent Political Theory
Political Theory and the Theologico-Political Problem
Politics and Religious Action in US History
The World Since 1945
Southern Politics

Introduction to Political Philosophy
Critical and Historical Development of Public Ethics
Moral Foundations of Politics