Teaching
Teaching is hope management.
This idea underlines a central tension of a sociological education: the promise of understanding complex social problems in a new way and the peril of feeling overwhelmed and demobilized by their magnitude.
As a sociologist, I believe we can manage hope by creating rigorous, engaging classes that focus equally on historical contextualization, sociological analysis, and informed imagining.
As an educator, I forward this orientation by developing courses that are deeply accessible, equity focused, and supportive.
Courses Taught
Introduction to Social Control & Deviance
In this 200-level class, I use a wide variety of everyday examples and sociological theories to help students understand historical, contemporary, and alternative expressions of social control.
Sociology of Homelessness
This course examines homelessness through a sociological perspective, covering key factors associated with people being unsheltered, social reactions like criminalization and
medicalization, and political and policy responses. Half of the material for this discussion and writing-intensive course come from people experiencing homelessness.
Policing the Poor
Through case studies of misdemeanor crime, drug use, homelessness, and mental illness, students learn how U.S. governments police and control people experiencing poverty. The course focuses on poverty governance in Seattle and Washington, allowing students to explore issues through personal stories, related data and legislative texts, and independent and collaborative projects.
Sociology of Mental Illness
Focusing on social responses to madness (broadly defined), students learn about the history of psychiatry and institutionalization; medicalization of social differences like race, gender, and ability; and critically explore current issues of mental illness in the legal system and schools.