Teaching

POLS 394 - Imagining Democracy (Emory)

This class is the first part of a two-course sequence associated with the Imagining Democracy Lab, a grant-funded initiative to link imagination, knowledge, and action to advance civic and political engagement. In this class we will engage with academic perspectives from the humanities and social sciences on the concept of democracy, then examine how these perspectives have (or have not) manifested in the experience of communities in the Atlanta area specifically and American democracy more broadly. To this end, we will learn from leaders of nationally-renown civic and political engagement organizations in Georgia in addition to faculty from Emory and other institutions. We will explore course material through a mix of lectures, discussion sessions, group presentations, and an individual final research paper that entails deep study of themes from the course.

POLS 347 - Latinx Politics in the United States (Emory)

This course examines the past, present, and future of Hispanic and Latina/o/x politics in the United States. Topics include the history of conquest, colonization, and immigration that gave rise to the Latina/o/x population in the United States, cultural and institutional forces that generate and sustain Latina/o/x identities, differences and similarities in the experiences of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central American, and other national origin groups, the historical and contemporary political preferences, behaviors, and representation of Latina/o/x potential voters, and how the growing Latina/o/x population will shape American politics going forward. Throughout the course, special emphasis will be placed on how Latinas/os/xs are incorporated into an American racial hierarchy historically defined by the Black-White binary, the intersection of Latina/o/x identity with gender, sexuality, national origin, citizenship status, and age, and the role Latinas/os/xs play in the politics of the South in general and Georgia in particular.

POLS 494 - Election Data Science & Analytics (Emory)

This course provides students with the tools necessary to locate, compile, visualize, analyze, forecast, and interpret election-related data. Emphasis will be placed on applying theories of electoral institutions and behavior to polling data and election results in real time, as would be the case in a data journalism or public-facing scholarship context. Students will learn to use the programming language R to conduct their own novel analyses, with scheduled instructional time split between demonstration sessions led by the instructor and self-directed lab time. For Fall 2022, the course will focus on analyzing election data from concurrent Georgia elections. Student collaboration and the production of public-facing research will be key goals of the course.

POLS Y200 - Election Law and Voting Rights (Indiana)

Voter ID laws. Corporate money in elections. Racial gerrymandering. Felon disenfranchisement. The political nature of these debates exemplifies the notion that "democracy does not exist in a vacuum." This course examines the laws that govern elections, with a focus on the right of Americans to participate in the political process. Emphasis is placed on the political history of the right to vote in America, and the legal structures that have served to enable expansion (and, at times, restriction) of these rights. Readings consist of a mix of historical narratives and relevant Supreme Court cases. We will also look at contemporary political science research and news stories related to voter fraud, the influence of money in politics, racial differences in voter turnout, and the role of the Supreme Court in determining election outcomes.

POLS Y205 - Analyzing Politics (Indiana)

This course introduces you to the approaches and techniques political scientists use to study politics. Unlike most of the other political science courses you will take at Indiana University, this course focuses on how political scientists (including yourself) "do" political science. While I do not assume prior knowledge of political science research methods, students who take the course should have an interest in politics as a subject of academic study. The course spends roughly equal time on the framework(s) guiding political science research and the multitude of approaches that political scientists employ. Students will learn about the scope of political science, how to evaluate normative and empirical claims about politics, how to construct research questions and hypotheses, the challenge of making inferences about politics, basics of interpreting political data, and an understanding of applied research methods including descriptive, experimental, and observational approaches. While we will draw on many substantive examples from the world of politics, this course is designed to provide a basic set of understandings that will assist you as you continue to study political science at this institution and beyond.

POLS Y317 - Voting, Elections, and Public Opinion (Indiana)

Democracy is generally understood to be the basis of the American political system, with elections serving as the primary link between citizens and the representation they receive. Yet many of us stay home on election day, casual observers decry partisan politics, and polling reveals few Americans feel well represented by Congress. In this course, we will explore features of American electoral politics through three central questions, each addressing the points made above: Why do we vote? What drives us to vote for one candidate over another? When do our political opinions impact public policy? While we will emphasize the many answers political science provides, we will also pay attention to the way campaigns perceive voters, and how data journalism and data analysis can help us understand election results. Most of the course will focus on recent presidential and congressional elections, including Donald Trump's election in 2016 and his reelection effort in 2020. The end goal of the course is to move beyond an us vs. them understanding of elections, and instead see how a scientific understanding of the electoral process can help explain the politics of today.

POLS Y329 / LATS L396 - Racial and Ethnic Politics in the U.S. (Indiana)

Issues of race and ethnicity have shaped American political history from the colonial era to the present, and certainly well before the election of President Barack Obama and candidacy of Donald Trump. Indeed, over the past half century, no national election would have been competitive without including the political preferences of racial and ethnic minority groups (including African-Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans) along with non-Hispanic Whites. Thus, a complete understanding of contemporary American politics demands knowledge of racial and ethnic politics. In this course, we will explore the development and maintenance of racial and ethnic identities, the inclusion of minority groups and interests into electoral politics, racism and forms of conflict between ethnic groups, and how immigration and demographic shift will impact the future political landscape. While we will study the historical contours of race in America, the focus of the course will be on interpreting how race and ethnicity shape politics today and will continue to impact the American political system going forward. Special attention will be placed on recent and future elections (especially 2008, 2012, and 2016), and the shift from a Black-White racial binary to a multi-ethnic framework.

POLS 585-1 - Election Data Science (Emory)

This course provides students with the tools necessary to locate, compile, visualize, analyze, forecast, and interpret election-related data. Emphasis will be placed on applying theories of electoral institutions and behavior to polling data and election results in real time, as would be the case in a data journalism or public-facing scholarship context. Students will learn to use the programming language R to conduct their own novel analyses, with scheduled instructional time split between demonstration sessions led by the instructor and self-directed lab time. For Fall 2022, the course will focus on analyzing election data from concurrent Georgia elections. Student collaboration and the production of public-facing research will be key goals of the course. Graduate students will collaborate with undergraduate students to make polling predictions in real time.

POLS 585-2 - Elections, Public Opinion, & Voting Behavior (Emory)

This seminar examines American electoral politics, political behavior, and public opinion, covering the decision to vote, the determinants of vote choice, and the relationship between individual opinions, behavior, and democratic outcomes. Fundamentally, therefore, this course interrogates how democracy works in practice in the United States. We will begin by addressing various theoretical frameworks that help us understand the decisions that voters (and non-voters) make, but the bulk of the assigned readings will explore contemporary survey, observational, and experimental analyses of political behavior. We will also explore how recent work challenges our understandings of both the literature on elections and politics more broadly. As we will discuss what research questions remain unresolved in extant work, and the ways in which novel data can help us understand political behavior and attitudes better, the end product of the course will be a 15-25 page empirical research paper, to be completed by the student. Students will also receive feedback on their research in later weeks of the course, as they present their preliminary analyses in a format similar to what one would find at a major conference.

POLS Y550 - American Politics Workshop (Indiana)

The American Politics Workshop (APW) is a regular convening of graduate students and faculty with an interest in American politics. Meeting weekly throughout the academic year, the APW is designed to provide a forum for those conducting research on American politics to present work in progress and, in turn, learn about new and ongoing research projects in the field. APW sessions generally consist of a 30-40 minute presentation followed by 30-40 minutes of discussion. Presenters distribute their working paper or chapter in advance so that APW participants may provide informed, constructive feedback during the session. The APW also hosts lectures given by outside speakers through the Indiana University Center on American Politics.

POLS Y661 - Electoral Politics (Indiana)

This seminar examines American electoral politics and political participation, covering the decision to vote, the determinants of vote choice, and the relationship between individual behavior and election outcomes. We will begin by addressing various theoretical frameworks that help us understand the decisions that voters (and non-voters) make, but the bulk of the assigned readings will explore contemporary survey, observational, and experimental analyses of electoral behavior. We will also explore how recent work on elections challenges our understandings of both the canonical literature on elections and politics more broadly. As we will discuss what questions remain unresolved in the literature, and the ways in which novel data can help us understand political behavior better, the end product of the course will be a 15-25 page empirical research paper, to be completed by the student. Students will also receive feedback on their research in later weeks of the course, as they present their preliminary analyses in a format similar to what one would find at a major conference.

POLS Y661 / LATS L601 - The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, & Identity (Indiana)

At its most basic, this seminar examines the role(s) of race, ethnicity, and gender in American politics. So why do we need to add "identity" to the title? Historically, the political impact of social identities has been studied through the lens of different groups in isolation (such as African-Americans or Women), or groups who share a politically formative experience (such as Immigrants). Yet each of these identities, and many more, co-exist both within the political arena and within individual Americans. A central part of this course will be to bring these literatures together and see if we can find a coherent set of themes, comparable evidence, and perhaps, shared complexity that allows us to better understand what role these identities will play in the future. In so doing, we will respect the distinctive features of the various research traditions and substantive foci that make up the body of work found in the syllabus.

We will begin by distinguishing between the ways that race, ethnicity, and gender are conceptualized in the context of American politics. Using these conceptions as a base, we will then turn to modern research on public opinion, voter behavior, institutions, campaigns, and representation, examining when, where, and how these social identities influence politics. At the end of the course, we will take a closer look at intersections between these identities and reconsider the future role of identity in American politics. As we will discuss numerous unresolved questions in the literature, the end product of the course will be a 15-25 page research paper, to be completed by the student. Students will also receive feedback on their research in later weeks of the course, and present preliminary analyses in a format similar to what one would find at an academic conference.