Teaching 

My teaching interests include modern political thought, the political theory of (in)equality, American political thought, and political economy.  As a lapsed Classicist, I am also interested in ancient political thought and incorporating material culture and reception history into the classroom. 

Below, you’ll find classes I’ve designed and taught/am teaching as the lead instructor, as well as a list of courses I have TA’d.

Social Theories of the Economy

(Moral and Political Economy—AS.197.101, Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2024 and Spring 2025; Co-Taught with Angus Burgin)

Part I: This two-semester course provides an introduction to major writings on economic life since the late eighteenth century, with a focus on debates provoked by the growth and development of capitalism. The first semester will be divided into two sessions. The first will focus on liberal theories of the market economy, from Adam Smith through Friedrich Hayek; and the second will focus on dialectical theories of history, from Hegel and Marx through Nancy Fraser and Stuart Hall.

Part II: This two-semester course provides an introduction to major writings on economic life since the late eighteenth century, with a focus on debates provoked by the growth and development of capitalism. The second semester will be divided into three sessions. The first will focus on the relationship between capitalism and community, with an emphasis on religious life and the problem of “disenchantment”; the second will focus on the relationship between capitalism and colonialism, and the legacies of decolonization; and the third will focus on major economic challenges for the twenty-first century.

Asian American Political Thought

(Political Science—AS 190.413, Johns Hopkins University, Fall 2023)

Despite growing awareness in other subfields of political science of the importance of Asian Americans as a political constituency, Asian American political theory and thought has yet to be recognized. As the scholar Fred Lee has contended, the lack of a recognizable intellectual lineage comparable to that of Black, indigenous, or Latinx political thought and even the lack of relative engagement with contemporary Asian American studies underscores an “epistemic racism of indifference” to the contributions of, by, and for Asian Americans to political theory and to politics more generally. To correct this tendency, this course provides an opportunity to engage with marginalized thinkers and texts by situating them historically,  in and against other traditions of political thought (e.g., Marxism, nationalist movements, conservatism, etc.). We will also investigate and interrogate the possibility of a textual “tradition” of Asian American political thought, including writings by thinkers before the invention of “Asian American” as an analytic, political, and identity category. To that end, this course will tackle the following questions. How do Asian American writers, thinkers, and activists conceive of core political concepts such as freedom, citizenship, inclusion, power, and justice in the face of longstanding historical injustices–ranging from legal and social exclusion to internment? How do Asian Americans understand, portray, and attempt to alter their social position and relation to state power? What tools of resistance were available to them, and how did they use those tools to negotiate and reconfigure central conceptual categories of political thought and politics?  We will engage a wide-ranging group of Asian and Asian American writers as well as contemporary theorists, as well as a variety of genres.

What’s the Matter with Inequality? Normative and Empirical Approaches

(Social Studies 98TA, Harvard University, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, and Spring 2023)— SYLLABUS

The objective of this course is to introduce students to different conceptual and methodological frameworks that guide our understanding of the nature, causes, and consequences of inequality. It is divided into three thematic units. In the first unit, we will confront empirical evidence of the income and wealth gap with normative theory to help us disentangle various moral objections to inequality. Is inequality objectionable because the poor don’t have enough, or because the rich have too much, or because there is something intrinsically wrong with some people having more than others? What are the social dimensions of inequality? In the second unit, we will consider various empirical explanations for how we got to where we are today: beliefs about inequality, public support for redistributive policies, elite politics, and state capture. In the third unit, we will look at the manifestations of inequality in public health disparities and tax policy, and we will close by examining the theory and practice of some of the main policy levers that supposedly can help “fix” inequality: redistribution and “predistribution,” universal basic income, and philanthropy.

This course aims to introduce students to a variety of methods for theorizing and studying economic inequality. Students will be guided through the process of researching, developing, and writing an original research paper that harnesses the methodologies and is related to some of the topics covered in class.

Social Studies 10: The Sophomore Tutorial

(Harvard University, AY 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23)

[From the General Syllabi:] This course offers an introduction to the foundations of modern social theory. The major themes of the course include the rise of democratic, capitalist societies and the concomitant development of modern moral, political, and economic ideas with special emphasis on empire, race, and inequality. In Social Studies 10A, authors include (but are not limited to): Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ottobah Cugoano, Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, and Frederick Douglass. Social Studies 10B continues this trajectory through the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Authors include (but are not limited to): Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, W.E.B. Du Bois, Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Saba Mahmood, Gayatri Spivak.

Women in Western Political Thought

(POLS 1824V, Brown University, Spring 2020)— SYLLABUS

Much of the tradition of western political philosophy has either ignored or justified the subordination of women, despite elucidating principles of alleged universality.  This course challenges the traditional “canon” of western political thought by recovering a long—and often forgotten—history of debates, ideas, and texts written by, about, and for women. This course will feature texts written by both men and women from a wide range of historical and intellectual contexts, from philosophers and playwrights of Ancient Greece, to early modern feminist thinkers, to late-nineteenth century social activists and writers.  We will examine these texts with specific reference to the lives and status of women in society.  What is the nature of man—and woman? What does it mean for women to be political subjects and citizens? What is the proper role of women in social and political life?  And how does including women in the history of political thought shape our fundamental assumptions about doing political theory and politics?

Adam Smith: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 

(POLS 1820 O, Brown University, Spring 2019) — SYLLABUS

This course is a deep exploration of his major works including The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and The Wealth of Nations (1776), as well as his lesser-known works such as the Lectures on Jurisprudence and his essays on philosophical subjects. This course will also examine the influence, legacy, and contemporary interpretations of Smith’s works.  We will grapple with big questions such as, “What is the nature of virtue and morality, and how do individuals learn moral behavior?”, “What makes some societies rich and others poor?”, and “What are the political preconditions and moral consequences of economic growth?”  Because the course focuses on the works of just one thinker, its methodological approach emphasizes close readings of the texts in their historical context.  However, we will also draw on the approaches of contemporary political theory to understand Smith’s contribution to our understanding of key normative concepts such as justice, liberty, and equality.The goal of this course is to use the works of Adam Smith as a lens through which we can better practice PPE. By the end of this course, students will be able to identify, understand, and analyze Smith’s ideas and also critique contemporary analyses and appropriations of them.

Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx

Teaching Assistant
Instructor: Alison McQueen-- Winter 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2017 

The Politics of Inequality

Teaching Assistant
Instructor: Karen Jusko-- Spring 2015

Justice

Teaching Assistant and Head Teaching Assistant
Instructors:
Han van Wietmarschen, Fall 2014
Josh Cohen, Fall 2013