Teaching
Meet with Me
I hold regular office hours via virtual Zoom sessions. Please sign up using your official OSU email address.
Courses
Malawi Study Abroad
Learn to conduct social science research while living in Malawi over four weeks. Through a combination of readings, lectures, applied assignments, and structured educational experiences in Malawi, students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct high quality social science research in a developing country context.
African Politics
This course offers an introductory survey of Sub-Saharan African politics from the pre-colonial period to the contemporary era. The material for this course is organized around the following broad themes: pre-colonial and colonial legacies, democratization, ethnic politics, violent conflict, economic development, and contemporary political issues.
The Politics of Belonging: Nationalism & Ethnicity
This course explores ethnic and national identities globally. Drawing upon theories from political science, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and economics, we will study the origins and characteristics of these identities, as well as their consequences for democracy, economic development, and violent conflict.
Democratic Erosion (Honors Seminar)
How do democracies die, and is ours at risk? In this course, we explore the causes and consequences of democratic erosion in comparative and historical perspective, with a focus on better understanding our own democracy. This course is part of a collaborative, inter-university consortium, and students will learn alongside students from dozens of universities.
Field Research Methods
(Graduate)
This graduate seminar introduces various field methods for developing and testing theories in the social sciences. The course is best suited for PhD students who are currently developing a dissertation prospectus, applying for research grants, or preparing for dissertation field research, but may also be helpful in planning preliminary field research.
Undergraduate Research
Earn course credit by working on research under my supervision. Students can elect to work as a research assistant one of my ongoing projects, or work on their own thesis research. If you are interested in working on my research or have me advise your independent research, please email me with information about your research interests and goals.
Request a Letter of Recommendation
I am happy to write a letter of recommendation for students and advisees. In order to write you the strongest letter possible and to get it in on time, please supply the requested information at least two weeks prior to the deadline.
Please send me the following information by email:
Your full name and academic year/rank
How I know you. If you took a course with me, please include the name of the course, the semester, and your grade in the course.
Information about the opportunity for which you are applying
All information that you will submit with your application (e.g., statement, resume, transcript, etc.)
Brief statement of what aspects of your application I should highlight or evaluate in my letter
Due date and means for submitting the letter
If you submit your materials more than two weeks before the deadline, please remind me two weeks before the letter is due and again two days before the letter is due. I will let you know when the letter has been submitted.