Courses
I currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses I developed in International Relations Theory, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and Global Governance. My teaching interests include qualitative and interpretative methods, world politics, critical approaches to International Relations, International Security Studies, and Regional/International Institutions.
I am the sole 2019-2020 recipient of the Frank Knox Award for Excellence in Teaching. Each year, the Alma Mater Society of Queen's University honours professors who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the education of students of Queen's University through their teaching excellence. The award is the highest honour which is given to instructors of Queen's by students.
Undergraduate
International Relations Theory (POLS 360)
This course is a survey of the field of International Relations (IR). Its overarching objective is to build students' general understanding of the main approaches, concepts, debates, and subfields that shape the evolution of IR theory, and how these relate to the practice of global politics. The course examines the similarities and differences between a diversity of theoretical strands in IR, and provides an overview of how these perspectives are reproduced in the study of international security, international organizations, and foreign policy. It covers important meta-theoretical debates about levels of analysis, explanation, methodology, and the historiography of the field. Students develop their ability to mobilize theoretical notions as tools for the analysis of contemporary cases and practical issues of international politics, and to critically assess the relevance, advantages, and shortcomings of different approaches to the study of global politics. I use a mix of games and short simulations, including one I developed on "International Institutions and Zombies" (partly inspired by Daniel W. Drezner's book), as active-learning activities in this course.
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (POLS 460)
This seminar will introduce students to major issues and debates shaping the study and conduct of international politics in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Asia-Pacific (a.k.a. Indo-Pacific). Throughout the term, we will draw on scholarly work on the region and broader theoretical and conceptual debates in the discipline of International Relations to discuss and analyze their relevance for understanding recent developments in the international/regional politics of the Asia-Pacific. Topics covered in the course will include: power relations in the region, regionalism, the role of non-state actors in regional governance, –traditional, non-traditional, and human– security issues, etc. This course includes a 2-week simulation module I developed on Negotiating a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Graduate
Approaches to Global Governance (POLS 867)
This course provides an overview of the main approaches, debates, and challenges relating to the study and practice of global governance. It examines a diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the role of international institutions in world politics, the actors, institutions, regimes, and ideas involved in their maintenance, contestation, and transformation, and the evolution of global governance and world order.
Supervision
In addition to projects which align with my current and past research interests, I am open to supervising PhD students on projects that:
Current and Past Supervisions:
Honours
Jesse Martin (2018-2019)
Tanisha Amarakoon (2019-2020)
Pamela Phan (2019-2020)
Emily Wilson (2020-2021)
James Taptelis (2020-2021)
Rhianna Hamilton (2020-2021)
Arthur Smith-Windsor (2020-2021)
MA
Kathleen Rankin (2019-2020)
Scott Tang (2019-2020)
Xijing Huang (2020-2021)
PhD
Emma Fingler (2020-...)
Bella Aung (2020-...)
Post-Doc
Michael Murphy (2022-...)
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching is informed by three main pedagogical commitments. First, I strive to bridge the gap between theory and practice, by encouraging students to actively reflect on how they intuitively make sense of politics in practice. I work with them to develop their versatility in approaching specific problems from various angles. Second, I am committed to centering the agency of students in the learning process through innovative active-learning activities. Third, I practice an ethics of care in my teaching, supervision, and mentorship activities, which are tailored to the needs of a diverse community of students. As such, I also seek to render the implicit codes and norms of higher education explicit so that all students have access to equal opportunities and are equipped with the tools they need to realize their academic and professional potential.
Many of the students who seek out IR classes do so out of pragmatic interests in the daily operation of world politics. Yet I have also discovered since I started teaching in this field that a significant portion of students are drawn to IR for a very different reason: they are attracted by the broad catalogue of theoretical and methodological positions that scholars adopt to study world politics. Many of these positions seem foreign to them, either because they do not match how students see the world, or because they are less familiar and possibly intimidating. These different sets of interest, in theory or practice, are not mutually exclusive, but they often appear that way to students, who tend to see them as fundamentally opposed. In the classroom, I work to bridge the gap between theory and practice essentially by showing that this distinction is artificial. I encourage students to reflect about the ways in which their assumptions, positionality, lived experience, and personality traits inform how they look at world politics, and guide them as they try on different lenses for fit on their own terms, if only temporarily. This allows me pique the interest of a third group of students, who are part of neither of the two aforementioned categories, but end up in my courses by happenstance.
One concrete way I work to unsettle the theory v. practice distinction is in my third-year class on International Relations Theory (POLS 360), for which I have developed a reflective journaling assignment. I ask students to reflect on their first impressions of the approaches they are exposed to and explain them, and to track the evolution of their own theoretical inclinations as the course progresses.
To prompt this reflection, I poll students during class by asking them questions framed in a format akin to a personality quiz to help them get a sense of their own IR “profile”. I then use the results for each question as an entry point for class discussions. Another example can be drawn from my fourth-year seminar on International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (POLS 460), where I often draw from my practical experience with multi-track diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific to provide up-to-date and insider information on current issues and debates in regional politics. I have also developed active-learning activities that require students to put themselves in the shoes of individual practitioners. I build profiles of individuals that include specific attributes such as profession (e.g. diplomat; expert; activist), country, gender, race, age, class and ask student to reflect on how they think this person would navigate specific situations (e.g. negotiating; consulting; advocating) based on real events.
In the classroom, I also work to equip my students with the tools of critical inquiry and learning by doing by centering their agency in their learning process through the use of innovative active-learning activities, including those listed below, but also short games and simulations. Using such activities to teach foundational concepts and theories enables students to link the course material to their experience and understand their practical utility. Among other active-learning activities, such as games and short simulations, I developed an entirely original 2-week in-class simulation on the South China Sea Disputes for my IR of the Asia-Pacific course, which I adapted to an online format in March 2020 in the context of emergency e-Learning under COVID-19. It includes a Twitter component that I use to teach students practical knowledge about public diplomacy.
I tailor my teaching, supervision and mentorship activities to make sure that students from underrepresented and otherwise marginalized groups can realize their academic and professional potential. I foster a “dialogue of courage” in the classroom by explicitly addressing impostor syndrome and performance anxiety, both in class and in office hours. I always meet students where they are without assuming prior knowledge of key concepts or the informal codes and norms of higher education that make up the “hidden curriculum”. This includes providing practical tips to students that are transferable to other courses, such as discussing the purpose of office hours or providing them with pre-submission checklists for written assignments and “How To” guides for effective reading and note-taking. I pay active attention to systemic and personal challenges students may experience in meeting course expectations, through participation and otherwise, outlining ways to overcome these challenges that are tailored to specific students (e.g. women, BIPOC, first-generation students, students with disabilities, non-native English speakers, etc.). I work to provide a safe environment and clear incentives for students to test new ideas and hone their communication skills. This allows me to help create a strong, peer-based support system for students, which is key to their academic success. To foster a positive class environment, I make students work in smaller groups to 1. increase the self-confidence of those who find themselves at a disadvantage in a competitive classroom setting, 2. to develop constructive leadership and listening skills among the more extrovert students by encouraging them to listen actively and amplify the voices of others, and 3. to engage in the constructive peer review of each other’s written work. My assessment of student participation also involves a reward system through which students can directly collaborate and benefit from contributing to others’ success.
As a supervisor and mentor to graduate students, whether this takes the form of direct supervision, participation in doctoral committees, or graduate research fellowships, I offer robust supervision and mentoring. I discuss mutual expectations head on, and help students build a coherent and realistic plan of work that is tailored to their academic and/or professional goals. I meet with my students on a regular basis according to their needs. To the best of my abilities within the limits of my role, I regularly check-in to ensure that students struggling with extenuating circumstances have access to the resources and support they need. I involve students in all of my research activities –drafting literature reviews, developing grant proposals, data collection and analysis, research planning, and co-authoring. I also actively support students interested in pursuing non-academic careers by sharing non-academic opportunities with them, involving them in my networks and introducing them to relevant professionals, in addition to providing insight into career prospects in government. In addition to providing regular feedback and tailored inputs on my students’ academic work, I give special attention to the development of strong writing and communication skills. Finally, I provide space and opportunities for peer-to-peer experience sharing and mentoring.
I currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses I developed in International Relations Theory, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and Global Governance. My teaching interests include qualitative and interpretative methods, world politics, critical approaches to International Relations, International Security Studies, and Regional/International Institutions.
I am the sole 2019-2020 recipient of the Frank Knox Award for Excellence in Teaching. Each year, the Alma Mater Society of Queen's University honours professors who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the education of students of Queen's University through their teaching excellence. The award is the highest honour which is given to instructors of Queen's by students.
Undergraduate
International Relations Theory (POLS 360)
This course is a survey of the field of International Relations (IR). Its overarching objective is to build students' general understanding of the main approaches, concepts, debates, and subfields that shape the evolution of IR theory, and how these relate to the practice of global politics. The course examines the similarities and differences between a diversity of theoretical strands in IR, and provides an overview of how these perspectives are reproduced in the study of international security, international organizations, and foreign policy. It covers important meta-theoretical debates about levels of analysis, explanation, methodology, and the historiography of the field. Students develop their ability to mobilize theoretical notions as tools for the analysis of contemporary cases and practical issues of international politics, and to critically assess the relevance, advantages, and shortcomings of different approaches to the study of global politics. I use a mix of games and short simulations, including one I developed on "International Institutions and Zombies" (partly inspired by Daniel W. Drezner's book), as active-learning activities in this course.
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (POLS 460)
This seminar will introduce students to major issues and debates shaping the study and conduct of international politics in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Asia-Pacific (a.k.a. Indo-Pacific). Throughout the term, we will draw on scholarly work on the region and broader theoretical and conceptual debates in the discipline of International Relations to discuss and analyze their relevance for understanding recent developments in the international/regional politics of the Asia-Pacific. Topics covered in the course will include: power relations in the region, regionalism, the role of non-state actors in regional governance, –traditional, non-traditional, and human– security issues, etc. This course includes a 2-week simulation module I developed on Negotiating a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
Graduate
Approaches to Global Governance (POLS 867)
This course provides an overview of the main approaches, debates, and challenges relating to the study and practice of global governance. It examines a diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the role of international institutions in world politics, the actors, institutions, regimes, and ideas involved in their maintenance, contestation, and transformation, and the evolution of global governance and world order.
Supervision
In addition to projects which align with my current and past research interests, I am open to supervising PhD students on projects that:
- adopt a constructivist, critical and/or interpretative approach to International Relations.
- focus of practices of security governance, conflict management and resolution, multilateral diplomacy and/or regionalism, particularly in the non-Western world
- inquire into the productive role of discourse in the social construction of world politics
- look at processes of security community-building in a globalized world
- propose to develop a theoretically-grounded examination of Asia-Pacific states and non-state actors in the transformation of world order
- aim to study the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda in the Asia-Pacific
- inquire into climate security governance in East or Southeast Asia
Current and Past Supervisions:
Honours
Jesse Martin (2018-2019)
Tanisha Amarakoon (2019-2020)
Pamela Phan (2019-2020)
Emily Wilson (2020-2021)
James Taptelis (2020-2021)
Rhianna Hamilton (2020-2021)
Arthur Smith-Windsor (2020-2021)
MA
Kathleen Rankin (2019-2020)
Scott Tang (2019-2020)
Xijing Huang (2020-2021)
PhD
Emma Fingler (2020-...)
Bella Aung (2020-...)
Post-Doc
Michael Murphy (2022-...)
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching is informed by three main pedagogical commitments. First, I strive to bridge the gap between theory and practice, by encouraging students to actively reflect on how they intuitively make sense of politics in practice. I work with them to develop their versatility in approaching specific problems from various angles. Second, I am committed to centering the agency of students in the learning process through innovative active-learning activities. Third, I practice an ethics of care in my teaching, supervision, and mentorship activities, which are tailored to the needs of a diverse community of students. As such, I also seek to render the implicit codes and norms of higher education explicit so that all students have access to equal opportunities and are equipped with the tools they need to realize their academic and professional potential.
Many of the students who seek out IR classes do so out of pragmatic interests in the daily operation of world politics. Yet I have also discovered since I started teaching in this field that a significant portion of students are drawn to IR for a very different reason: they are attracted by the broad catalogue of theoretical and methodological positions that scholars adopt to study world politics. Many of these positions seem foreign to them, either because they do not match how students see the world, or because they are less familiar and possibly intimidating. These different sets of interest, in theory or practice, are not mutually exclusive, but they often appear that way to students, who tend to see them as fundamentally opposed. In the classroom, I work to bridge the gap between theory and practice essentially by showing that this distinction is artificial. I encourage students to reflect about the ways in which their assumptions, positionality, lived experience, and personality traits inform how they look at world politics, and guide them as they try on different lenses for fit on their own terms, if only temporarily. This allows me pique the interest of a third group of students, who are part of neither of the two aforementioned categories, but end up in my courses by happenstance.
One concrete way I work to unsettle the theory v. practice distinction is in my third-year class on International Relations Theory (POLS 360), for which I have developed a reflective journaling assignment. I ask students to reflect on their first impressions of the approaches they are exposed to and explain them, and to track the evolution of their own theoretical inclinations as the course progresses.
To prompt this reflection, I poll students during class by asking them questions framed in a format akin to a personality quiz to help them get a sense of their own IR “profile”. I then use the results for each question as an entry point for class discussions. Another example can be drawn from my fourth-year seminar on International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (POLS 460), where I often draw from my practical experience with multi-track diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific to provide up-to-date and insider information on current issues and debates in regional politics. I have also developed active-learning activities that require students to put themselves in the shoes of individual practitioners. I build profiles of individuals that include specific attributes such as profession (e.g. diplomat; expert; activist), country, gender, race, age, class and ask student to reflect on how they think this person would navigate specific situations (e.g. negotiating; consulting; advocating) based on real events.
In the classroom, I also work to equip my students with the tools of critical inquiry and learning by doing by centering their agency in their learning process through the use of innovative active-learning activities, including those listed below, but also short games and simulations. Using such activities to teach foundational concepts and theories enables students to link the course material to their experience and understand their practical utility. Among other active-learning activities, such as games and short simulations, I developed an entirely original 2-week in-class simulation on the South China Sea Disputes for my IR of the Asia-Pacific course, which I adapted to an online format in March 2020 in the context of emergency e-Learning under COVID-19. It includes a Twitter component that I use to teach students practical knowledge about public diplomacy.
I tailor my teaching, supervision and mentorship activities to make sure that students from underrepresented and otherwise marginalized groups can realize their academic and professional potential. I foster a “dialogue of courage” in the classroom by explicitly addressing impostor syndrome and performance anxiety, both in class and in office hours. I always meet students where they are without assuming prior knowledge of key concepts or the informal codes and norms of higher education that make up the “hidden curriculum”. This includes providing practical tips to students that are transferable to other courses, such as discussing the purpose of office hours or providing them with pre-submission checklists for written assignments and “How To” guides for effective reading and note-taking. I pay active attention to systemic and personal challenges students may experience in meeting course expectations, through participation and otherwise, outlining ways to overcome these challenges that are tailored to specific students (e.g. women, BIPOC, first-generation students, students with disabilities, non-native English speakers, etc.). I work to provide a safe environment and clear incentives for students to test new ideas and hone their communication skills. This allows me to help create a strong, peer-based support system for students, which is key to their academic success. To foster a positive class environment, I make students work in smaller groups to 1. increase the self-confidence of those who find themselves at a disadvantage in a competitive classroom setting, 2. to develop constructive leadership and listening skills among the more extrovert students by encouraging them to listen actively and amplify the voices of others, and 3. to engage in the constructive peer review of each other’s written work. My assessment of student participation also involves a reward system through which students can directly collaborate and benefit from contributing to others’ success.
As a supervisor and mentor to graduate students, whether this takes the form of direct supervision, participation in doctoral committees, or graduate research fellowships, I offer robust supervision and mentoring. I discuss mutual expectations head on, and help students build a coherent and realistic plan of work that is tailored to their academic and/or professional goals. I meet with my students on a regular basis according to their needs. To the best of my abilities within the limits of my role, I regularly check-in to ensure that students struggling with extenuating circumstances have access to the resources and support they need. I involve students in all of my research activities –drafting literature reviews, developing grant proposals, data collection and analysis, research planning, and co-authoring. I also actively support students interested in pursuing non-academic careers by sharing non-academic opportunities with them, involving them in my networks and introducing them to relevant professionals, in addition to providing insight into career prospects in government. In addition to providing regular feedback and tailored inputs on my students’ academic work, I give special attention to the development of strong writing and communication skills. Finally, I provide space and opportunities for peer-to-peer experience sharing and mentoring.
