My role as a political science educator is to foster i) strong critical thinking, ii) application of the social scientific logic and method, and iii) project management skills. My goal is for students to acquire skills that they can practice in their careers as well as in their social and political lives.
The goal of this course is to familiarize students with social scientific research methods and provide hands-on experience with statistical software for analyzing real-world data. The curriculum is structured into four core areas:
Descriptive Statistics: Clean, organize, and efficiently summarize data
Research Design: Develop original research questions and structure a systematic scientific inquiry
Measurement: Turn abstract social concepts into measurable, concrete variables
Inference: Draw accurate causal conclusions and test hypotheses using data
This course introduces students to the history, law, and politics surrounding the right to vote in the United States. The curriculum is structured into three distinct sections, each addressing a foundational question: Who has the legal right to vote? How difficult is it to actually exercise that right? Why do people choose to exercise it (or not)?
The first section, The Legal Evolution of the Right to Vote, begins by exploring how the framers of the Constitution conceptualized the franchise. This section then examines the 15th and 19th Amendments, tracking their historical impacts on the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It concludes by exploring how the modern boundaries of the American electorate are drawn, specifically focusing on felony status and the voting age. The second section, The Rules of the Game: Institutional Aspects of Voting, analyzes the state-level regulations, administrative hurdles, and structural designs that expand or restrict access to the ballot box. Finally, the third section, The Political Psychology of the American Voter, investigates how these institutional rights and rules shape individual behavior, exploring why citizens participate in elections and what these behavioral patterns mean for the future of American democracy.
This course offers an introduction to the key actors and institutions that shape American politics. We will explore major topics such as the historical foundations of the government, the structure of political institutions, and patterns of political attitudes and behavior. We will examine fundamental questions such as: What are the promises and limits of democratic governance? How do institutional rules shape political outcomes? How do people form political opinions and decide to take political action?
This course focuses on a broad introduction to the field of political psychology. It covers the major theoretical and methodological approaches that political scientists and psychologists have used to understand the political attitudes, decisions, and behavior of citizens, groups, and elites. The course will address questions like: What are the tools to look inside the hearts and minds of people? What is the role of environmental factors and life experiences in shaping political attitudes and behaviors? What is the role of biological factors in shaping political predisposition? What are the micro-foundations for different types of political attitudes and behaviors?
This course is about racial and ethnic politics in the U.S., focusing primarily on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Whites. It is designed to explore conceptual and methodological issues while focusing on how racial and ethnic groups shape and are shaped by the American political system. Among the topics to be covered include the meaning of race and ethnicity, the history of racial and immigration politics, prejudice, group participation and mobilization, political representation, and public opinion.
This course explores the intersections of migration, identity, and citizenship from theoretical, empirical, and normative perspectives. We will examine how the movement of people across borders shapes national belonging, political participation, and social inclusion. Drawing on diverse methodological approaches from history, sociology, anthropology, and political science, we will analyze key theories of migration, state policies regulating mobility, and the lived experiences of migrants and diasporic communities. We also examine legal frameworks and processes for acquiring citizenship, as well as broader integration policies.