Teaching Philosophy
I enjoy finding new ways to make social science frameworks accessible and relevant. Those moments when students say that the coursework prompted them to them reexamine their workplace culture, roommate dynamics, or memories of middle school cafeteria cliques? That's when I know students are truly connecting with and seeing themselves in the concepts we explore together.
Pedagogically, I create learning environments that emphasize critical and creative thinking, cooperative dialogue, and compassionate curiosity.
My teaching is grounded in the belief that setting high expectations, offering meaningful support, and providing attentive mentorship encourages growth for all parties. This approach has proven effective across diverse student cohorts, from eighteen-year-olds in their first college class to seminarians integrating scholarly insights into their pastoral care practices to adult learners rejoining the classroom with decades of lived experience to share.
Recognitions
Princeton University’s Sociology department, McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, and Graduate School have all awarded me for excellence in teaching and mentorship. The recognition I value most, though, arrives in the form of continued conversations with students as they chart their own courses forward.
To my ministers and my maintenance technicians; my accountants and my activists; my event planners, educators, and EMTs; writers and web developers; personal assistants, public defenders, photographers, and PhD candidates alike: I am proud of each and every one of you and am a better teacher for having known you.
“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students.
What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”
-Paulo Freire
Teaching Interests and Current Involvement
My teaching interests are varied and include—in no particular order—research methods and design, social psychology, sociology of religion, organizations and organizational behavior, and topics concerning gender and sexuality. I have experience teaching across institutional contexts and have enjoyed supervising multiple cohorts of student interns, undergraduate research assistants, graduate teaching assistants, and living-learning community residents. I understand that people require both academic support and authentic investment to succeed, and I am eager to invest in teaching, mentoring, and advising students from a variety of backgrounds.
I am currently enrolled in Princeton's Teaching Transcript Program and serve as a research mentor with the Office of Undergraduate Research’s ReMatch program. Princeton students who are curious about the program or interested in meeting at a ReMatch event can visit my profile here. Please don’t be shy — I’d love to say hello at the next Meal for Mentoring!