Teaching

Courses Taught (selected)

Global Green Politics (POL 327) - Purdue University, Dept. of Political Science: Spring 2021

Course description: Today the world faces various environmental problems and challenges that require political interventions by a wide variety of actors and institutions, both public and private. Many of these issues transcend national boundaries, insofar as their origins are embedded in global systems of production and exchange, and their effects span a variety of spatial and temporal scales. This means that these problems cannot be addressed by local or national governments in isolation from one another – international solutions and cooperation are necessary. The goal of this course is to explore the political dimensions of environmental problems and the attempts to solve them at the international level. In sum, this course offers a history and analysis of international environmental politics from the perspective of political science and international relations.

The first part of this course establishes some of the basic theoretical frameworks and concepts for understanding international environmental politics, from both mainstream and critical approaches. First, we will lay out some of the general theoretical approaches to the sources of global environmental problems, including theories of collective action and commons management, as well as more critical theories of capitalism and environmental degradation. Next, we will turn to some of the proposed solutions for addressing international environmental problems, including perspectives that emphasize the role of public and private forms of governance, state and interstate institutions and regimes, market-based policy instruments, and approaches to economic development and political economy. As we move through these topics, we will be situating them within their social and historical context, addressing specific actors and institutions in international environmental politics, including those who critique and ultimately seek to radically transform the international system.

The second half of the course is oriented towards applying the conceptual tools developed in the first part to a substantive issue of particular significance in today’s world: climate change. During this second half of the course, students will explore this topic in depth, and write a short climate policy paper. Throughout the semester, students will also be expected to keep up on current events in environmental politics, and contribute to an active and collaborative learning environment.

International Organization (POL 433) - Purdue University, Dept. of Political Science: Spring 2021

Course description: This course provides an overview of international institutions and global governance from the perspective of important academic and policy debates. As an upper-level course, the main learning goals are to impart knowledge of relevant scholarly literatures in the Political Science and International Relations (IR) fields and provide the background and skills that enable students think critically and analyze competing arguments and claims about the subject matter. The more specific course goals are to understand scholarly debates about the role of international organization(s), including the United Nations (UN), in global politics, and to provide a foundation for critically evaluating arguments about the role of these institutions.

The course is divided into two parts. The first part begins with an overview of various theoretical perspectives on IR generally and on the role of international organizations (IOs), global governance, and international law more specifically. We then examine the historical development and evolution of the UN and its precursors, including the League of Nations, and outline the UN’s structure and key actors that shape UN politics. The second part of the course deals with substantive issues in global politics, beginning with security, peace, and human rights, which are central to the UN system. We will discuss topics such as peacekeeping, collective security, human security, and humanitarian intervention. The final weeks deal with other issues of importance to the UN and other international organizations, including economic development, trade, and the global environment and climate change. Throughout, we will consider relevant contemporary events to illustrate the role of international organizations in these areas.

Global Justice (POL 3460) - The Ohio State University, Dept. of Political Science: Spring 2017

What is global justice? Is it possible to achieve? What would such a world look like and what does this tell us about how to live in our unjust world? Activists and policy-makers alike today, from the streets of Occupy Wall Street to the negotiations of the United Nations, frequently invoke “global justice,” but much less is said about what global justice is or what it could be. This class will explore the concept and practice of global justice through engagement with modern and contemporary texts in political theory. We begin by considering leading analytic frameworks and approaches, then turn to particular issue ares relevant to political debates today. We will look closely at issues relating to poverty, trade, and sweatshops; global environmental issues, including climate change; international migration, indigenous peoples, and colonialism and empire; and global governance and democratic accountability, concluding on the prospects of global justice for the world today. Throughout, we will connect these issues to each other as well as to newsworthy developments in global politics today. In an era of extreme inequality, increased geopolitical tensions, and global environmental degradation, this course aims to equip students with the necessary critical analytical skills to better understand, in order to change, the world today.

World Regional Geography (GEOG 1000) - Otterbein University, Dept. of History and Political Science: Spring 2020

This course provides students with an understanding of the basic principles of geography and how they relate to the study of world regions. The course emphasizes how physical and human characteristics affect each other to make regions distinctive. The physical environment includes landforms and climate while the human landscape is characterized by culture, language, religion, diet, and economic development. The course analyzes how globalization is transforming the traditional forces that served to create nation-states. Since this course meets Otterbein’s requirements for teacher certification in Ohio, assignments will be provided that help students to learn how to teach geography.