Teaching & Mentoring

Teaching is one of the parts of academic life I enjoy most. I want students to leave my classroom not only knowing more about politics, but feeling more confident asking questions, evaluating evidence, developing arguments, and conducting research of their own.

My teaching is closely connected to my research, but the classroom is also a space for students to bring their own experiences and perspectives to the questions we study. I use contemporary political developments, research activities, discussion, and different forms of assessment to help students connect political science to the world around them.

Courses

University of Essex

GV831 · Final-Year Dissertation — Module Coordinator
GV510 · Democracy, Inequality and Violence in Latin America — Undergraduate and postgraduate
GV317 · Corruption
GV313 · Authoritarianism
GV100 · Introduction to Politics

University of Colorado Boulder

PSCI 4012 · Global Development
PSCI 3062 · Revolutions and Political Violence
PSCI 2012 · Introduction to Comparative Politics

Supporting Student Research

I particularly enjoy working with students as they begin developing research of their own. As coordinator of Essex’s final-year dissertation module, I help students move from an initial research question to an independent research project.

I also co-lead our Final Year Student Conference, where students present their dissertation research to staff and peers in a professional conference setting. Through the dissertation programme, I oversee the selection of Essex students for Posters in Parliament, giving students the opportunity to present their research to MPs and policymakers in Westminster.

Teaching Beyond the University

My teaching also extends beyond the university classroom. In 2024 and 2025, as part of a collaborative UKRI-funded research project, I designed and delivered qualitative research methods workshops for staff at Colombia’s Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN).

The workshops focused on qualitative interviewing, fieldwork, and the use of research methods to evaluate reintegration programmes. Working with practitioners has been an especially rewarding opportunity to connect the skills we teach in political science with the practical challenges of designing and evaluating public policy.