My teaching interests span American politics, the presidency, and social science statistics and research methodology.
Frequently Taught Classes at San Francisco State University:
- Fundamentals of Political Science- (Undergraduate Upper Level)
- Scientific Inquiry in Political Science- (Undergraduate Upper Level)
- Introduction to American Politics- (Undergraduate Lower Level)
- U.S. Presidential Election Lecture Series- (Undergraduate Lower Level)-Taught only during the fall of presidential election years
- Topics in American Politics: How to Choose a U.S. President- (Undergraduate Upper Level) -Taught only during the spring of presidential election years
Less frequently offered classes:
- Modern Citizenship: Pundits, Podcasts, and Political Know-How in the 21st Century- (Undergraduate Upper Level) Last taught spring 2023
- The U.S. Congress- (Undergraduate Upper Level) Last taught fall 2021
- Essentials of California Politics- (Undergraduate Upper Level) Last taught fall 2020
- The American Presidency- (Undergraduate Upper Level) Last taught fall 2020
- American Politics Seminar- (Graduate) Last taught fall 2019
Research Mentoring
I have mentored the following M.A. Thesis projects in political science:
- Gillian Welcher, M.A. Violation or Virtue? – The Effects of Scandal on Congressional Relationships. Defended December 2024 (Chair)
- Luke Heslip, M.A. The External Party Coalition: How Democratic-allied interest groups financially
contributed to congressional candidates from 2012-2020. Defended Spring 2023 (Chair) - Emily Woo, M.A., Vote Blue No Matter Who? Political Alienation and the Voter Turnout of Minority
Groups in the 2016 Presidential Election. Defended Summer 2022 (Second reader)
I have also mentored undergraduate research projects in political science:
- 2022-2023: Gillian Welcher, Gerrymandering and Voter Disenfranchisement -How District Lines are Used to Suppress the Vote and How We Might Fix It. Research supported by the Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.
- 2020-2021: Fiona Dewitt, Defining Rurality: An Exploration of the Rural-Urban Connection in Different Parts of the United States. Research supported by the Marcus Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.
- 2019: Abigail Richards, Congressional Influence on the Supreme Court Agenda, San Francisco State University. Winner of the 2019 Gloria Rummels Award for Best Use of Quantitative Data at the Annual Social Science Student Symposium.
- 2017-2018: Mark Goldberg, Race, Constituency, and Representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, The University of Texas at Austin.
- 2016-2017: Kevin Valenzuela, Are All Rights Created Equal? A Statistical Re-examination of the Human Rights Committee, The University of Texas at Austin.
- 2015-2016: Martin Gutierrez, The Role of Attention in Regulation of the U.S. Financial Market, The University of Texas at Austin.