Recommendations

Teaching

In 2009, I was runner-up for the College of Liberal Arts and College of Sciences Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Nevada, Reno. Perhaps the best thing that a teacher can do is to pass along the knowledge that she or he has acquired during years of research. The great balance we try to achieve is between how much time is dedicated to the students we teach and how much is dedicated to the research we need to keep our jobs. Despite that difficult choice, many professors enjoy working with their students and have no problem in dedicating large slots of time to both endeavors -- research and teaching. Of course, its easier for some than others, as professors do have outside lives and families.

My style of teaching is no doubt a bit different than other professors'. I do not hold a "view" in class. I argue from all sides of the political spectrum. I try to keep my students not only alert and on their toes, but also mentally stimulated. The research component of my classes is intended to give students practice with writing, documentation and library. Why? What is most important to instill in my students is helping them (1) to understand why certain political phenomena occur, (2) to make connections, (3) to make decisions about ideas and policies for themselves, (4) to hone their detectors for deception. In other words, I try to help them do what social scientists and all scientists have been doing for centuries now: to seek what we believe at that moment in time is the best explanation for the phenomena we are studying. I've avoided the word "truth" here, because truth implies an immutable quality. I worry when we cannot change our ideas or thoughts to reflect changes in what we know or what we see. So, we are seeking the best explanation at this moment in history.

I have worked often with my students, both undergraduates and graduates, in doing research. Students should feel free to ask whether research is being conducted that might interest them. Some of the papers I've listed under my research page were co-authored with students who contributed significantly to the research (yes, well beyond pulling a few references from the library).