Teaching Philosophy
As a teacher, I believe I have a responsibility to inform and mentor students to better understand their place in the world, and to position themselves for future success as caring, thoughtful citizens. I believe in hands-on sociological teaching, and the power in each of our students to learn and be transformed. To me, teaching is not just “part of the job,” but instead a vocation, and I believe that higher education is the space to introduce individuals to concepts and ideas that will guide them to their own vocations. Specifically, I aim to introduce critical thought to my students, give them space for personal growth, and give them the tools to be successful both inside and outside of the classroom.
While in my experience quality teaching occurs in fluid relationships with students, in the classroom, I see myself as a resource for the students to ask any questions about material, and a facilitator of discussion and critical thought. While no document can fully capture the lived classroom experience, I’ve linked sample syllabi for courses I’ve taught below to give readers a sense of what I focus on in the classroom. Future students can use these as guides to see what I expect as a teacher, and, if you’re preparing your own courses, feel free to take whatever you find useful from these documents.
While in my experience quality teaching occurs in fluid relationships with students, in the classroom, I see myself as a resource for the students to ask any questions about material, and a facilitator of discussion and critical thought. While no document can fully capture the lived classroom experience, I’ve linked sample syllabi for courses I’ve taught below to give readers a sense of what I focus on in the classroom. Future students can use these as guides to see what I expect as a teacher, and, if you’re preparing your own courses, feel free to take whatever you find useful from these documents.
Sample Syllabi
Introduction to Sociology |
This course explores some of the ways social scientists explain human behavior, with a particular focus on how our society is structured and how the collective experiences we’ve had in groups influence how we live. This course teaches the building blocks that sociologists use to understand the world; reveals students' everyday experiences in a new light, and provides the building blocks to the development of one's “sociological imagination.”
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Sociology of Deviance |
This course offers a review of sociological perspectives used in the study of deviance and deviants, with a particular focus on how we construct deviance in our society. Specifically, this course leads us into asking: does deviance have any function in society? How is it that a group of individuals comes to be defined as deviant? What are the societal reactions to deviance and consequences for people defined as deviant? This course is designed to give students an overall understanding of theories on deviance, as well as introduce them to some cutting-edge empirical work on modern deviance.
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Criminology
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For criminology and other theory-based courses, I like to go with a reader over a traditional text book. I find that reading the original works helps students understand some of the principles that could be glossed over in someone else's summary. I supplement my lectures with 1) information from more traditional textbooks, 2) what I learned in graduate school, and 3) the most recent articles and developments in criminological theory.
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Quantitative Methods
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When it comes to quantitative methods (either for Sociology or Criminal Justice), I focus on three things: 1) a baseline knowledge of statistical principles that allow us to make inferences about samples (the "math" stuff), 2) applicable skills for analyzing problems using statistical software (SPSS, predominantly), and 3) a knowledge of how to read, interpret, and question statistics that are out in the real world (I use concepts from Darrell Huff's short book How to Lie with Statistics here). I also assign a final paper where students must test a theory they have learned in earlier courses with a formal hypothesis and their own research on a subject, culminating in a statistical analysis using regression.
This course is decidedly the one that I'm most still in the process of developing, so don't take either of these syllabi as gold standards. The first syllabus here (QM for Criminal Justice), I think I tried to do too much in a short period of time, and I wasn't satisfied with how rigid the calendar I set out became later in the semester. The second syllabus is more conducive to the work flow of the students. In other words, I do not have an ascribed calendar built at the start. This leads to more work for me later on in the semester, because I let students know quarterly what homework assignments and readings to expect for the upcoming month and am constantly rebuilding the calendar. However, I like the balance because I feel like it allows for more freedom in teaching: I am not beholden to a course calendar in case students breeze through a particular subject, or in case we need to spend more time on something. |