As a teacher, a former Captain in the US Army Infantry, and an elected local official, I strive to equip my students with a strong foundational and theoretical understanding of political science, and an in-depth awareness of how course concepts translate to the real world. Whether through having students hold an in-class “Iowa Caucus” to explain why random survey sampling might be an inappropriate technique for predicting caucus results, or by running carefully crafted international crisis simulations designed to allow students to see the world from a diplomat’s perspective, I strive to integrate experiential learning into the classroom experience whenever possible. In the 2019 – 2020 school year, I was the recipient of Northeastern University’s college-wide Outstanding Teaching Award.

Course Description: Is the world becoming more peaceful or more bellicose? What are the causes of war and how can individuals, organizations, states, and multi-stakeholder coalitions promote peace? How are concepts like war, peace, and security defined and measured, and why do such definitions matter? Which international forums, courts, or intergovernmental organizations are the most effective at resolving disputes between their members? These are some of the fundamental questions and debates that will be covered in this junior seminar, with a major emphasis on the critical role that international law and institutions can have in building peace between states and at the highest levels of global governance.

This course is designed for students who wish to better understand the contemporary global security challenges we face and the nature of the international system(s) that can constrain or enhance our ability to overcome them. Drawing from multiple disciplines, a major theme of the course will focus on how states can move beyond the cessation of kinetic warfare (negative peace) and build a genuinely sustainable and just peace that addresses the root causes of conflict (positive peace).

This class will meet weekly to critically examine and discuss these and other peace and conflict related topics. Each class will be broken into two thematic sessions with a short break in between. As a WRIT-designated junior seminar, this course is designed to be writing intensive and with a focus both on expanding our understanding of global conflict and peace processes, along with the added goal of improving students’ ability to effectively articulate, refine, and communicate their ideas in written form. To these ends, students will engage in a focused semester-long writing project that will culminate in a substantial research paper on a peace and conflict-related topic of their choice.

Students can expect to finish this course with a deeper understanding of the contentious issues and pacific forces that shape international politics, and confident in their ability to critically analyze and interpret the latest developments in ongoing and emerging international conflicts around the world.

International Relations

Course Description: This course will introduce students to the major concepts and issues that shape the relations of countries around the world. We will focus on both the theoretical foundations and conceptual frameworks of international relations (IR), as well as but how they translate into real-world events and foreign policy. Some topics we will cover include: IR theory; international law and negotiation; the causes and consequences of interstate war; foreign and national security policy decision-making processes; terrorism and weapons of mass destruction; international order and organizations; globalization; climate change; trade and interdependence; and the future of the world order. Students will get a chance try their hand at statecraft through a semester-long virtual simulation designed to put course concepts to the test. Students can expect to finish this course with a deeper understanding of the forces that shape international politics and the ability to critically analyze and interpret important current events around the world.