Teaching Highlights
My teaching takes place beyond the classroom. I combine my research and teaching by working with student undergraduate researchers as co-investigators and offer study abroad courses to Kenya. Such efforts have been recognized and I received the Outstanding Junior Professor Award in 2021 and CAS Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award in 2020 at Winthrop University.
Some of the courses I have taught at Winthrop University as well as my previous institutions are summarizezed below.
Winthrop University
PLSC 207 Comparative Politics
This course is an introduction to the study of comparative politics. We focus on how citizens may be able to control public policies in different modern democracies and autocracies. We begin by briefly applying some of these ideas to the American political system. We then turn to comparing political systems of eleven countries with each other, the US and with other countries.
PLSC 350 Scope and Methods
The purpose of this course is to train students in how to analyze political phenomena in a rigorous and scientific manner. This knowledge requires an understanding of two different components: research design and statistics. In the first component, students will learn how to discriminate between theories, pose proper research questions, construct a relevant hypothesis, make valid causal inferences, operationalize concepts, and test their hypotheses. The latter component offers the student a “statistical toolbox” to use as s/he pursues the scientific study of all things political. This component covers quantitative topics such as central tendency and dispersion, measures of association, and regression analysis. By the end of this course, hopefully, the student should have mastered the basic requirements to begin conducting, comprehending, and critiquing research in political science.
PLSC/AAMS 338 Governments and Politics of Africa
In this introductory course in African Politics, students will be introduced to the major issues of contemporary African politics in various topics, including the pre-colonial and colonial legacy, state and society, ethnicity, clientelism, political institutions, underdevelopment, democratic transitions and consolidation, etc. The classes will alternate between lecture and seminar formats. In seminar classes, students will read and discuss the current debate of each theme presented in lecture-based classes. Although we will not cover every country in Africa, we will attempt to discuss the present day dynamics in many states within the continent. In the end, this course will provide students with the tools to better analyze the news they hear about Africa and further develop their interest in an important region of the world.
PLSC 506 International Political Economy
The course provides an overview of the theories, methods and key topics in international political economy. It examines how international and domestic political factors shape patterns of interaction in areas of trade, finance, and investment. For example, when discussing trade issues, we will look at how they are influenced by individual preferences, domestic institutions, and international institutions such as the WTO. While the focus here is on trade, much of the logic and reasoning behind the arguments transfer to other issue areas as well. We will also attempt to gain a balanced perspective on some of the more contentious issues in IPE, such as: who are the winners and losers of globalization? Does the global economy provide a level playing field for all countries? Why are some countries persistently mired in underdevelopment?
Northern Illinois University
POLS 642 Intermediate Analysis of Political Data (Spring 2017)
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of linear modeling to social science problems. The focus of this class will be to provide you with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct your own empirical research. Topics will include ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing, dealing with violations of the underlying assumptions of multiple regression, instrumental variables estimation, simultaneous equations, time-series econometrics, panel data techniques and causal inference, experiments, quasi-experiments and some topics of maximum likelihood estimation.
Dominican University
POSC 264 Politics in Africa (Fall 2016)
This course provides an introduction to the major issues in contemporary African politics. To help students understand the current state of African politics, each class is divided into two parts: in the first part, students will learn broader themes of African politics, which include: the pre-colonial and colonial legacy, state and society, ethnicity, clientelism, economic development, democracy vs. authoritarianism, political transitions, etc. In the second part, these themes and the various theoretical arguments in each theme will be used to explain the current situations within individual African countries. We will not cover every country in Africa, but we will attempt to discuss the present day dynamics in many states within the continent. This course relies on lectures, academic literature, films, and class debates/discussion to challenge students to think critically about African politics. In the end, this course hopes to provide students with the tools to be better able to analyze the news they hear about Africa and further develop their interest in an important region of the world.
University of Rochester
PSC 286 Political Economy of Developing Countries (Fall 2015, Summer 2013)
Why are some countries more developed than others? To address this fundamental question, we will discuss both political and economic elements of development and the interconnectivity between them. In particular, we will study factors that are prevalent in less-developed countries such as weak institutions, ethnic and class conflicts, political instability, clientelism, government corruption and failure of public goods provision, and examine whether these factors can be the causes or consequences of underdevelopment. We will also study the effectiveness of various policy interventions, both international and domestic, in promoting development.
Strathmore University
BSE 2103: Introductory Econometrics
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of Econometrics. The focus of this class will be to provide students with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct their own empirical research. Topics will include the Gauss-Markov assumptions, ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing and dealing with violations of the Gauss-Markov assumptions.
University of Georgia
Linear Model (Spring 2015, PhD Course)
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of linear modeling to social science problems. The focus of this class will be to provide you with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct your own empirical research. Topics will include ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing, dealing with violations of the underlying assumptions of multiple regression, instrumental variables estimation, simultaneous equations, time-series econometrics, panel data techniques, causal inference and data reduction techniques.
Policy Analysis II: Poverty Reduction Policy Analysis for Developing Countries (Spring 2015)
This course teaches a systematic approach to economic policy analysis and applies it in the study of efforts to reduce poverty and promote development in poor countries. We examine policies ranging from short-run cash and food transfer programs; to infrastructure, agricultural technology and micro finance projects; to policies shaping long-run investments in education and health. Emphasis is on the rigorous use of economic reasoning, the identification and use of critical empirical evidence, and the effective communication of policy analytic results.
Foundations of Policy Analysis (Spring 2015, Fall 2014)
This is a course in microeconomic analysis that provides broad exposure to the fundamental economic tools of policy analysis. While competitive markets are often efficient, there are many barriers to perfectly functioning markets that lead to the need for public policy. Ultimately, the goal of the course is to lead students to appreciate the economic method of thought - assuming rational agents respond predictably to incentives in order to allocate scarce resources at their disposal as seems "best" to them - and how this method can be a widely useful tool for assessing the need for, and likely impact of, public policy.
Data Analysis and Statistics (Fall 2014, PhD Course)
This course provides students an opportunity to develop quantitative analysis skills that can be applied to social science research questions. There are two main objectives of this course: the first is to provide students with the mathematical foundation essential for quantitative analyses; the second is to provide students with statistical foundations for data analysis. The course is composed of two parts: in the first part, topics will include matrix algebra, differential and integral calculus, and optimization. The mathematical tools taught in the first part of the course will serve as a foundation for the second part of the course as well as advanced quantitative analysis courses in following semesters, i.e., PADP 8130 and PADP 8140. The second part of the course will include sampling, descriptive statistics, probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, comparison of means, ordinary least squares, and factor analysis. In addition, I will provide three STATA tutorial sessions for statistical analysis, which you will need to use for data analysis assignments.
Policy Analysis I (PADP 8670, PhD Course)
This course introduces students to the theoretical and quantitative techniques of policy analysis, focusing primarily on the role of markets in public policy. The course is intended to enable students to be critical users of policy analyses and to understand the role of policy analysis in social policy development. It will provide a thorough introduction to the field of economic policy analysis for those students who are planning to continue on in the area of social policy evaluation and development. By the end of this semester, students should be able to:
Courses I served as a teaching assistant for:
University of Rochester
KDI School of Public Policy and Management
Seoul National University
My teaching takes place beyond the classroom. I combine my research and teaching by working with student undergraduate researchers as co-investigators and offer study abroad courses to Kenya. Such efforts have been recognized and I received the Outstanding Junior Professor Award in 2021 and CAS Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award in 2020 at Winthrop University.
Some of the courses I have taught at Winthrop University as well as my previous institutions are summarizezed below.
Winthrop University
PLSC 207 Comparative Politics
This course is an introduction to the study of comparative politics. We focus on how citizens may be able to control public policies in different modern democracies and autocracies. We begin by briefly applying some of these ideas to the American political system. We then turn to comparing political systems of eleven countries with each other, the US and with other countries.
PLSC 350 Scope and Methods
The purpose of this course is to train students in how to analyze political phenomena in a rigorous and scientific manner. This knowledge requires an understanding of two different components: research design and statistics. In the first component, students will learn how to discriminate between theories, pose proper research questions, construct a relevant hypothesis, make valid causal inferences, operationalize concepts, and test their hypotheses. The latter component offers the student a “statistical toolbox” to use as s/he pursues the scientific study of all things political. This component covers quantitative topics such as central tendency and dispersion, measures of association, and regression analysis. By the end of this course, hopefully, the student should have mastered the basic requirements to begin conducting, comprehending, and critiquing research in political science.
PLSC/AAMS 338 Governments and Politics of Africa
In this introductory course in African Politics, students will be introduced to the major issues of contemporary African politics in various topics, including the pre-colonial and colonial legacy, state and society, ethnicity, clientelism, political institutions, underdevelopment, democratic transitions and consolidation, etc. The classes will alternate between lecture and seminar formats. In seminar classes, students will read and discuss the current debate of each theme presented in lecture-based classes. Although we will not cover every country in Africa, we will attempt to discuss the present day dynamics in many states within the continent. In the end, this course will provide students with the tools to better analyze the news they hear about Africa and further develop their interest in an important region of the world.
PLSC 506 International Political Economy
The course provides an overview of the theories, methods and key topics in international political economy. It examines how international and domestic political factors shape patterns of interaction in areas of trade, finance, and investment. For example, when discussing trade issues, we will look at how they are influenced by individual preferences, domestic institutions, and international institutions such as the WTO. While the focus here is on trade, much of the logic and reasoning behind the arguments transfer to other issue areas as well. We will also attempt to gain a balanced perspective on some of the more contentious issues in IPE, such as: who are the winners and losers of globalization? Does the global economy provide a level playing field for all countries? Why are some countries persistently mired in underdevelopment?
Northern Illinois University
POLS 642 Intermediate Analysis of Political Data (Spring 2017)
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of linear modeling to social science problems. The focus of this class will be to provide you with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct your own empirical research. Topics will include ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing, dealing with violations of the underlying assumptions of multiple regression, instrumental variables estimation, simultaneous equations, time-series econometrics, panel data techniques and causal inference, experiments, quasi-experiments and some topics of maximum likelihood estimation.
Dominican University
POSC 264 Politics in Africa (Fall 2016)
This course provides an introduction to the major issues in contemporary African politics. To help students understand the current state of African politics, each class is divided into two parts: in the first part, students will learn broader themes of African politics, which include: the pre-colonial and colonial legacy, state and society, ethnicity, clientelism, economic development, democracy vs. authoritarianism, political transitions, etc. In the second part, these themes and the various theoretical arguments in each theme will be used to explain the current situations within individual African countries. We will not cover every country in Africa, but we will attempt to discuss the present day dynamics in many states within the continent. This course relies on lectures, academic literature, films, and class debates/discussion to challenge students to think critically about African politics. In the end, this course hopes to provide students with the tools to be better able to analyze the news they hear about Africa and further develop their interest in an important region of the world.
University of Rochester
PSC 286 Political Economy of Developing Countries (Fall 2015, Summer 2013)
Why are some countries more developed than others? To address this fundamental question, we will discuss both political and economic elements of development and the interconnectivity between them. In particular, we will study factors that are prevalent in less-developed countries such as weak institutions, ethnic and class conflicts, political instability, clientelism, government corruption and failure of public goods provision, and examine whether these factors can be the causes or consequences of underdevelopment. We will also study the effectiveness of various policy interventions, both international and domestic, in promoting development.
Strathmore University
BSE 2103: Introductory Econometrics
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of Econometrics. The focus of this class will be to provide students with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct their own empirical research. Topics will include the Gauss-Markov assumptions, ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing and dealing with violations of the Gauss-Markov assumptions.
University of Georgia
Linear Model (Spring 2015, PhD Course)
This course is an introduction to the theory and application of linear modeling to social science problems. The focus of this class will be to provide you with the theoretical and practical skills necessary to conduct your own empirical research. Topics will include ordinary least squares, hypothesis testing, dealing with violations of the underlying assumptions of multiple regression, instrumental variables estimation, simultaneous equations, time-series econometrics, panel data techniques, causal inference and data reduction techniques.
Policy Analysis II: Poverty Reduction Policy Analysis for Developing Countries (Spring 2015)
This course teaches a systematic approach to economic policy analysis and applies it in the study of efforts to reduce poverty and promote development in poor countries. We examine policies ranging from short-run cash and food transfer programs; to infrastructure, agricultural technology and micro finance projects; to policies shaping long-run investments in education and health. Emphasis is on the rigorous use of economic reasoning, the identification and use of critical empirical evidence, and the effective communication of policy analytic results.
Foundations of Policy Analysis (Spring 2015, Fall 2014)
This is a course in microeconomic analysis that provides broad exposure to the fundamental economic tools of policy analysis. While competitive markets are often efficient, there are many barriers to perfectly functioning markets that lead to the need for public policy. Ultimately, the goal of the course is to lead students to appreciate the economic method of thought - assuming rational agents respond predictably to incentives in order to allocate scarce resources at their disposal as seems "best" to them - and how this method can be a widely useful tool for assessing the need for, and likely impact of, public policy.
Data Analysis and Statistics (Fall 2014, PhD Course)
This course provides students an opportunity to develop quantitative analysis skills that can be applied to social science research questions. There are two main objectives of this course: the first is to provide students with the mathematical foundation essential for quantitative analyses; the second is to provide students with statistical foundations for data analysis. The course is composed of two parts: in the first part, topics will include matrix algebra, differential and integral calculus, and optimization. The mathematical tools taught in the first part of the course will serve as a foundation for the second part of the course as well as advanced quantitative analysis courses in following semesters, i.e., PADP 8130 and PADP 8140. The second part of the course will include sampling, descriptive statistics, probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, comparison of means, ordinary least squares, and factor analysis. In addition, I will provide three STATA tutorial sessions for statistical analysis, which you will need to use for data analysis assignments.
Policy Analysis I (PADP 8670, PhD Course)
This course introduces students to the theoretical and quantitative techniques of policy analysis, focusing primarily on the role of markets in public policy. The course is intended to enable students to be critical users of policy analyses and to understand the role of policy analysis in social policy development. It will provide a thorough introduction to the field of economic policy analysis for those students who are planning to continue on in the area of social policy evaluation and development. By the end of this semester, students should be able to:
- Identify the steps involved in the policy analysis process (problem definition, determination of evaluation criteria, identification of policy alternatives, evaluation of policy alternatives, and selection of the preferred policy);
- Use empirical evidence to substantiate policy arguments, and understand some of the limitations of data and empirical analysis;
- Select and apply criteria for policy analysis (e.g. efficiency, costs, equity, feasibility), with consideration to the ethical and political issues involved in criteria selection;
- Identify and select policy alternatives;
- Understand the different methods for evaluating the expected effects of proposed policies (e.g. cost-benefit analysis, risk analysis, and sensitivity analysis), including the distribution of effects among population subgroups.
Courses I served as a teaching assistant for:
University of Rochester
- PSC 203 Survey Research Methods, Fall 2013, Prof. Michael Peress
- PSC 255 Institutions and Underdevelopment, Spring 2012, Prof. Avi Acharya, Mean student evaluation score of 4.43 out of 5
- PSC 200 Applied Data Analysis, Fall 2012, Prof. Matt Blackwell, Mean student evaluation score of 4.47 out of 5
- PSC 255 Political Causes of Underdevelopment, Spring 2011, Prof. Avi Acharya, Mean student evaluation score of 4.25 out of 5
- PSC 201 Political Inquiry, Fall 2010, Prof. Kevin Clarke
KDI School of Public Policy and Management
- (Graduate) Analysis of Market and Public Policy, Spring 2005 and Spring 2007, Prof. Ilchong Nam
Seoul National University
- Principles of Economics, Summer 2004 and Summer 2005, Prof. Yong Yoon
