I have created courses on development, urbanization, and the environment, adopting a format that emphasizes collaborative work, role playing, intensive discussion, debate, and dialogue. In “Development and Its Alternatives,” I assigned a project in which groups worked together to write case scenarios on carbon rationing, transition towns, dam removal, and wind power (where each “case” describes a real-life situation, giving information and key points, but not analysis). Students shared these in an interactive role play during the final week of the course and analyzed each other’s cases. The response was extremely enthusiastic; in their course evaluations, students praised the method for its creativity, open-ended nature, and positive impact on the learning experience.
In “Urban Society,” I developed a student presentation format inspired by the popular PechaKucha talks initiated by architects in Tokyo. In addition to a final research project, students prepared mini-presentations on themes of inequality and environmental privilege, and then shared these at a symposium during the last two weeks of the term. The experience was widely praised for integrating urban issues with the inequalities that students from diverse backgrounds often encounter in their daily lives. I believe that this method is exceptionally useful in honing analytical skills through the art of communicating complex issues in concise and creative ways.
In 2014, I was nominated by students for a campus-wide teaching award and received an honorable mention.
Teaching Experience – Deptartment of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara
Development and Its Alternatives, upper division undergraduate course (2015)
Urban Society, upper division undergraduate course (2015)
Special Topics in Globalization and Development, undergraduate course (2013)
Women, Culture, Development, TA for Kum-Kum Bhavnani (2014)
Sociology of the Environment, TA for Raymon Clémençon (2014)
Earth in Crisis, TA for John Foran (2013)
Global Justice Movements, TA for John Foran (2012)
The Global City, TA for Kum-Kum Bhavnani (2012)
Globalization and the Future, TA for Fernando Lopez-Alves (2011)
Sociological Research Traditions, TA for John Mohr (2011)
Introduction to Sociology, TA for Avery Gordon (2011)
Research Methods in Global and International Sociology, TA for John Foran (2010)
