My teaching focuses on undergraduate courses on Comparative Politics, South Asia (with a focus on India), Local Democracy in the U.S. (with a focus on field experiences with local government), and mixed method research design and methods. I also have developing courses on applied research and social media content moderation, drawing on my experience advising a social media platform on safeguards for violence and incitement, hate speech, and misinformation.
My goal is for students to develop and practice critical thinking, engage rigorously with political concepts and research methods, and understand how politics operates on the ground and affects people’s lives. I ask students to examine how scholars build arguments, assess whether the evidence supports their claims, and consider how those arguments apply across different political contexts.
I connect these analytical skills to practice through fieldwork, civic participation, and communication assignments. In my local democracy courses, students participate in local government and civic activities and use those experiences to examine questions of power, representation, and accountability. Students also present published research as if they were its authors, explaining and defending its arguments and evidence, and create civic education materials for audiences beyond the classroom, online and in person.
Featured Course(s)
Local Democracy in NYC (Field-Based Course) (Undergraduate Senior Seminar, Barnard College, Intensive Summer Session Seminar 2026)
This course is a field-based course on NYC government and politics in comparative perspective. It draws on my public-facing civic education project: Act Locally: NYC Civics 101 and requires students to attend a variety of public government and civic group meetings and to reflect on these experiences. Versions of this course have been taught in Claremont, CA, Los Angeles, and NYC.
Challenges for Developing Democracies (Columbia University, Spring 2027).
This course provides the foundations of the state and political institutions of democracies in the global south and then alternates between diagnosing problems and evaluating solutions to those problems. Versions of this course have been taught at Columbia University, Loyola Marymount University, Pitzer College, and Swarthmore College.
Research Design and Methods (Proposed: Undergraduate/Master-Level Course)
This courses is designed to teach students qualitative, field, and survey methods for applied or academic research.
Columbia University and Barnard College
South Asian Politics (Fall 2026 Lecture Course)
Local Democracy in NYC (Field-Based Course) (Summer 2026)
Challenges for Developing Democracies (Spring 2026; Spring 2027).
Introduction to Comparative Politics (Spring 2026)
Loyola Marymount University
Local Democracy (Fall 2025; Civic Engagement Bootcamp Activity)
Challenges for Developing Democracies (Fall 2025).
Introduction to International Relations (Revised Syllabus)
Fordham University
Introduction to Politics (Spring 2025, Revised Version).
Tulane University
Development Issues & Strategies, Fall 2018.
Ethnic Politics, Fall 2018.
Introduction to International Relations, Fall 2018.
Pitzer College (Claremont Colleges Consortium)
Introduction to Development Policy, Fall 2016, Spring 2018.
Local Democracy in Comparative Perspective: Power, Participation, and Policy, Spring 2018.
Ethnic Politics: Identity, Conflict, and Change, Spring 2017, Spring 2018.
Introduction to Comparative Politics, Fall 2016, Fall 2017.
Challenges for Developing Democracies, Spring 2017, Fall 2017.
Parties, Voters, and Elections in the Developing World, Spring 2017.
Politics of India, 2017 Draft Syllabus.
Swarthmore College
Challenges for Developing Democracies, Spring 2015, Spring 2016.
Ethnic Politics, Spring 2016.
The Politics of Poverty Alleviation in the Developing World, Spring 2016.
Government and Politics in South Asia, Spring 2015.