Teaching
UCLA Courses
Undergraduate Seminars and Lectures
Urban Sociology. Soc 158. Lecture. syllabus.
LA Urbanism. Soc 189. Honors Seminar. syllabus.
Divided Cities: A Global Sociology of Urban Inequality. Soc 191V. syllabus.
Poverty Ethnography: Sociology of Poverty through an ethnographic lens. Soc 191V. syllabus.
Graduate Seminars
Urban Sociology. Soc 285A. syllabus.
UC Berkeley Courses
Instructor of Record for Graduate Course in Teaching Sociology with Cristina Mora (2018), Divided Cities: A Global Sociology of Urban Inequality (2018), Poverty Ethnography (2016 & 2017), Research Practicum in Qualitative Methods with Neil Gong (2014).
Graduate Instructor for Contemporary Social Theory: Sociology (Burawoy, 2014), Classical Social Theory (Burawoy, 2013), Urban Sociology (Reed, 2013).
Reader for Economic Sociology (Fligstein, 2012), Poverty (Sanchez-Jankowski, 2011, 2016-2018)
Community Teaching
Instructor for Pre-College Course in Writing and Critical Thinking, Bard Prison Initiative. Eastern Correctional Facility. 2007-2008.
Writing on Teaching
“Living Theory: Principles and Practices for Teaching Theory Ethnographically” with M. Rosaldo, J. Seim, and B. Shestakovsky. Teaching Sociology. 2016.
This article details the principles and practices animating an “ethnographic” method of teaching social theory. As opposed to the traditional “survey” approach that aims to introduce students to the historical breadth of social thought, the primary objective of teaching ethnographically is to cultivate students as participant observers who interpret, adjudicate between, and practice social theories in their everyday lives. Three pedagogical principles are central to this approach, the first laying the groundwork for the two that follow: (a) intensive engagement with manageable portions of text; (b) conversations among theorists; and (c) dialogues between theory and lived experience. Drawing on examples from our experiences as Graduate Student Instructors for a two-semester theory sequence, we offer practical guideposts to sociology instructors interested in integrating “living theory” into their own curricula by clarifying how each principle is put into action in course assignments, classroom discussions and activities, and evaluations of student learning. We conclude by encouraging sociology departments and instructors to consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of offering social theory courses built around in-depth readings of, and conversations between, social theorists and the social world.
“Sketching Social Theory Collectively”: Teaching Effectiveness Award Essay
Accolades
Herbert Blumer Teaching Fellow. 2018
Outstanding GSI Award. 2015
Resources