My teaching draws directly on my research on contentious politics, Islamist movements and diasporic activism, and on my broader interest in how social movements and rebel groups change and adapt. In the classroom, I aim to help students engage with difficult and often emotionally charged topics thoughtfully and with empathy, and to leave with a sense of agency rather than despair. I have written about these approaches in “Empowering Students to Have Difficult Conversations” (PS: Political Science & Politics, 2025) and “Toward a Pedagogy of Hope for the Political Science Classroom” (Journal of Political Science Education, 2025).
Introductory Courses
- GOVT 157: Democracy and Dictatorship: Politics in the Contemporary World
Survey Courses
- GOVT 270: Comparative Politics of the Middle East
- GOVT 276: Arab Spring and Aftermath
- GOVT 277: Islamic Movements and Parties
- GOVT 298: Terrorism and Film
Seminars
- GOVT 282: Activism in Exile
- GOVT 340/CHUM 340: Action and Inaction in Social Movements
Tutorials (College of Social Studies)
- CSS 230: Sophomore Government Tutorial: State and Society in the Modern Age
- CSS 330: Junior Government Tutorial: Uprisings and Revolutions in the Middle East: The Arab Spring in Context