teaching

My teaching interests are centered around topics related the intersection of race, representation, public policy, and the American Political Economy.

potential courses include

  1. Black Politics
  2. Congress
  3. American Political Economy
  4. Race, States, and Markets
  5. The Craft of Research in Political Science

instructor of record

In the Summer of 2023, I will be teaching my own course: “A Seat at The Table? Race and Representation in American Institutional Life”

Description: The fight for increased inclusion into American society and culture created new opportunities and dynamics for American politics but how might we understand if and how this has translated into material gains for marginalized groups? This course will look at the ways in which representation became a political demand in ways both tied and untied from other goals like anti-poverty and human rights, the economic and judicial processes that shaped the demand for political representation, the ways that representational politics plays out specifically in the realm of Black politics (with a specific focus on the politics of race, representation, and the Congressional Black Caucus), and the dialectical relationship between politics and popular culture in the 21st Century. Can representation save us? Should it?

teaching experience as a GSI (graduate student instructor)

During my time at UC Berkeley, I was a Graduate Student Instructor for three courses

  1. Spring 2020 - “History of African American Political Thought” for Desmond Jagmohan
  2. Fall 2020 - “Race and the American Dilemma” for Taeku Lee
  3. Spring 2021 - “Congress” for Eric Schickler

Some selected reviews of my teaching are below:

  • “In my time at Cal, I find what dictates the strength of a GSI is his or her ability to take the random thoughts of students and meet them where they’re at. Bad GSIs have a preconceived framework of the material in their heads and seem to be limited by this reconception. Christian seems to be just as capable as some of the best professors I’ve had at Cal to meet students where they are, which I think is requisite to being able to maximize the facilitation of new learning.”
  • “Christian was great! I didn’t have a ton of academic background in racial politics before taking the class, and I was still learning a lot of the language and how to talk about issues as the class went on. Even though I wasn’t as experienced as some of my classmates, I never felt too afraid of being cold–called, which usually I hate, because I knew that even if I said something that I wasn’t phrasing right or wasn’t fully fleshed out yet, Christian would be able to help reframe it in a way that was really really helpful and constructive. Christian was clearly highly interested in what we had to say and let us largely steer the class after he set us up with a topic to talk about, which was a welcome alternative to highly–scripted sections, and I felt like made for a more fruitful learning environment. He’s a great GSI!”
  • “Christian was incredibly thoughtful about our ability to participate given the circumstances (both COVID and elections season); he ensured we were able to engage in meaningful conversations of the material and encouraged participation proactively. Christan was also extremely flexible and adaptive to the needs of individual students and would go out of his way to be supportive. Christian was also open to facilitating discussion based on our interests and questions which was helpful in allowing us to explore the course more openly and comfortably.”
  • “Christian is awesome! He really made me think about my arguments and asked questions that made me rethink what I thought previously. All of the material he went over in section really added to the lectures instead of just regurgitating them. He also gave really good advice for papers that I appreciated. You could really tell he put effort into the course and was there for the students. I appreciated having him teach our section in an engaging, informative, and valuable way.”

I will also be completing the UC Berkeley Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Fall 2023.