Teaching

A statement of my teaching philosophy, such as it is, is available upon request.

My work in Berlin is largely research-focused, but I do have the occasional teaching opportunity. Most recently, in the 2021 spring/summer semester, I taught a seminar on the early modern history of the Near East (i.e., the so-called “gunpowder empires” era) for a new MA program at the Freie Universität.

During my years at the University of Chicago, I was teaching almost every term, in particular Persian and Arabic language classes. I had the good fortune to run my own section of introductory Persian on multiple occasions, as well as to lead an intermediate Arabic course for a full year (2016–17).

Another valuable part of my pedagogical training was serving as a preceptor—an academic advisory role that involves, among other things, helping students to research and write their final theses. I held this position, at various times, in both the BA program of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the MA program of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

I look forward to every new chance to teach a course. One of my longtime dreams is to guide a group of students through Wheeler M. Thackston’s textbook, A Millennium of Classical Persian Poetry.