Teaching Philosophy

I approach teaching anthropology as an opportunity to help students develop new ways of seeing and understanding the world. Anthropology encourages us to question assumptions that can otherwise seem natural or inevitable and to examine how culture, history, institutions, and systems of power shape people’s everyday experiences. My goal as an educator is to create an inclusive and intellectually rigorous classroom where students are encouraged to ask difficult questions, engage thoughtfully with perspectives different from their own, and develop the analytical tools necessary to understand complex social issues.

My teaching is grounded in the belief that students learn anthropology most effectively when they can connect anthropological concepts and theories to the world around them. I therefore emphasize connections between course material and contemporary issues, drawing on ethnographic research and real-world examples to demonstrate the relevance of anthropological thinking. In courses such as Introduction to Anthropology, Indigenous Peoples of North America, and Linguistic Anthropology, I encourage students to consider how concepts such as culture, language, identity, colonialism, migration, citizenship, and inequality operate not only as academic concepts but as forces that shape people's lives. By connecting theory to lived experience, I hope students come to understand anthropology as both a way of interpreting the world and a means of asking questions about how that world might be different.

My approach to teaching is also informed by my own research on migration, citizenship, language, and legal violence. Ethnographic research has taught me the importance of listening carefully to how people understand and describe their own experiences, particularly when those experiences are shaped by institutions and systems of power. I bring this perspective into the classroom by encouraging students to approach anthropological questions with curiosity, humility, and reflexivity. Rather than treating communities as objects of study, I teach students to consider how anthropologists' own positions and assumptions influence the questions they ask and the knowledge they produce. This approach is particularly important when teaching about migration, Indigenous communities, criminal legal systems, and other subjects involving histories of inequality and contested power.

I strive to create a classroom environment where students feel both supported and challenged. An inclusive classroom, in my view, is not one where every student is comfortable, but one where students have the support and intellectual tools necessary to engage seriously with difficult material. I establish clear expectations for respectful dialogue while encouraging students to question ideas, including my own. Discussions of race, colonialism, migration, citizenship, language, and inequality can generate disagreement, and I see those moments as valuable opportunities for anthropological learning when they are approached thoughtfully. My role is to cultivate a classroom environment where students can take intellectual risks while learning how to listen, evaluate evidence, articulate arguments, and engage disagreement constructively.

I also place considerable emphasis on developing students' skills as researchers and critical thinkers. Anthropology provides students with valuable tools for understanding the world beyond the classroom, including qualitative research, observation, interviewing, interpretation, and critical analysis. I incorporate opportunities for students to practice these skills rather than simply learn about them. Whether students are conducting a small-scale ethnographic exercise, analyzing language and discourse, interpreting an ethnographic text, or developing a research project, I encourage them to move from asking what they think about an issue to asking how they know what they know and what evidence might complicate their assumptions.

Mentorship is another important component of my teaching. I view teaching as extending beyond the classroom and seek to help students recognize how anthropological training can contribute to a wide range of academic, professional, and community-based careers. I especially value opportunities to mentor students who are considering graduate education or research and to help them develop confidence as scholars. My own interdisciplinary background and professional experiences in community development, international service, policy research, and anthropology inform my efforts to help students see the versatility of anthropological training.

Ultimately, I want students to leave my courses with more than familiarity with anthropological terminology. I want them to become more careful observers, critical readers, thoughtful researchers, and more attentive participants in the communities and institutions that they are a part of. Whether students pursue anthropology beyond the classroom or carry these skills into other fields, I hope they leave my courses with a deeper understanding of how culture, language, law, and systems of power shape human lives—and with the confidence to question the assumptions underlying the social worlds and experiences they encounter.

Courses Taught

  • Introduction to Anthropology

  • Indigenous Peoples of North America

  • Linguistic Anthropology

Courses Prepared to Teach

  • Introduction to Anthropology

  • Cultural Anthropology

  • Linguistic Anthropology

  • Anthropology of Migration

  • Anthropology of Law

  • Anthropology of Citizenship

  • Indigenous Peoples of North America

  • Anthropology of Latin America

  • Ethnographic Methods

  • Qualitative Research Methods

  • Race, Inequality, and Power