Working at a premier liberal arts university like Soka has taught me a great deal about teaching, and I continue to hone my skills each semester. Soka University of America’s small class size, diverse student body, and energetic talkers have made for a wonderful laboratory through which I have been able to develop my courses.
Courses Taught
An Introduction to the Pacific Basin (PacBasin Syllabus)
Fall 2024; Fall 2023; Fall 2022; Fall 2021; Spring 2021; Spring 2020; Spring 2019; Fall 2017; Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
INTS 140: Introduction to European Studies
Spring 2023
INTS 150: An Introduction to Southeast Asian Studies (INTS 150 2016)
Spring 2022; Fall 2020; Spring 2018; Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
INTS 305: Democracy & Democratization (INTS 305)
Fall 2024; Fall 2022; Fall 2020; Fall 2018; Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2012
INTS 320: Politics in Asia
Spring 2025; Spring 2022
INTS 365: State & Society (INTS 365)
Fall 2023; Fall 2021; Spring 2020; Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2011
INTS 381: Political Islam (INTS 381)
Spring 2021; Spring 2018; Spring 2015, Spring 2013
INTS 382: Political Buddhism (INTS 382)
Spring 2024; Spring 2019; Spring 2016
INTS 450: Armed Conflict in Southeast Asia (INTS 450)
Spring 2014, Spring 2012
POLI 324: The Politics of Southeast Asia
Spring 2011, University of British Columbia
POLI 220: Introduction to Comparative Politics
Summer 2007, University of British Columbia
Learning Clusters
Every Winter block, Soka is home to its innovative ‘Learning Cluster’ courses, three week intensive courses in which students and professors collaborate to do something, well, different. This is one of my favorite things about teaching at Soka, as the below topics might attest, especially when we get to leave campus and learn in situ.
2024: Comparative Authoritarianism (LC 2024 Syllabus)
2023: The Politics of Self-Government in Wales (LC 2023 Syllabus)
2019: Indigenous Development in Asia (LC 2019 Syllabus)
2018: Southeast Asian America (LC 2018 Syllabus)
2017: Multiculturalism in Asia (LC 2017 Syllabus)
2016: Liberal Arts Education: In Comparison and Action! (LC 2016 Syllabus)
2015: From Field to Cup: The Politics, Economics, and Ecologies of Sumatran Coffee (LC 2015 Syllabus)
2014: Intimate Economies: Sex, Tourism, and Sex Tourism in Southeast Asia (LC 2014 Syllabus)
2013: Power in Movement: Mass Transit in Comparative Context (LC 2013 Syllabus)
2012: Growing Up Tough in Sumatra: Child Rights in Indonesia (LC 2012 Syllabus)
Capstones
Soka University of America demands that every student must write a senior Capstone project. Each student must select a Capstone Mentor to guide them through this process, providing the professor an opportunity to help students develop their research skills.
2023-24: “Emigration Governance: The Role of Sending States in Governing International Migration”; “The Politics of English Promotion and Cultural Protectionism”
2022-23: “Factors Contributing to the LDP’s Dominance in Japanese Politics”; “Coffee Bean and Well-Being: The Relationship between Coffee Farmers, Regulatory Institutions, and Regional Economic Development”; “Poverty and Inequality in Malaysia and Japan”
2021-22: “Deepening Decentralization: Toward Ishigaki Politics”; “A Quest for Positive Coexistence: Ainu and Japanese”; “A Perfect Storm: Structure, Agency and Windows of Opportunity as a Pathway for Social Change”
2020-21: “What Does Communism Mean in the 2020s?”; “Turbulence on the Border: Territorial Dispute of India with Pakistan and China”; “Việt Kiều in the Western World: Comparing Identities of other Vietnamese Communities in Western Countries to Vietnamerica”; “Legacy of al-Andalus in Modern Spanish Culture”; “Odd Couple, Strange Marriage: Subnational Divergence of the LDP-Komeito Alliance in Japan”
2019-20: “Paths Not Taken: Legacies of Critical Junctures in Philippine National Development”; “Framing Differences: Museums in Singapore and the Representation of Minorities”; “Unity in Diversity: Assessing Illiberal Multiculturalism in Indonesia”
2018-19: “Gender Equality in Vietnam: Promises and Reality”; “Constitution, Citizenship, and Statelessness”; “Into the Melting Pot? Diasporic Assimilation in the United States”; “Myanmar’s Ethnic Problem: History, Conditions and Solutions”
2017-18: “Why Do Refugees Receive More Attention Than IDPs?”; “Changing Japanese Attitudes towards Security”; “China’s Political Learning”; “Sports and Political Identity”; “Australia as a Regional Power”
2016-17: “Multicultural Hawaii: Seeking Autonomy”; “Interrogating Conventional Wisdom of Fossil Fuel Divestment at Universities: Fiduciary Duty and Impact Potential”
2015-16: “Minority Groups in Islam”; “Understanding the Value of Religion in Social and Political Life”
2014-15: “The Violent Insurgent Group: Defining the Relationship between the State, the Insurgency, and the Population”; “Ethnic Conflict in China: A Comparison of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia”; “The Middle Class: Are We There Yet?”; “Moderating or Radicalizing: Inclusion and Moderation in Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Palestine”; “Japan and Southeast Asia Respond to the Rise of China”; “Social Perception of Cults in Comparative Context”; “Pariah’s Path to Change: Motivations, Conditions, and Strategies for Reform in Myanmar”
2013-14: “Analyzing the Relationship between Conflict Termination and Positive Peace”; “Punk Wants Out, Rap Wants In: Youth Subculture Power Relations and Exporting American Genres”; “Social Capital and Development in Comparative Contexts”
2012-13: “Centralization in the European Union and Decentralization in China: Diverging Trends in Political Liberalization?”; Promoting Transparency in Developing Countries”; “The Causes of the Thai Sex Industry and Its Effects on Women”; “Constructing Terrorism: How the United States’ Interests Shifted the Definition of Terrorism”
2011-12: “Fighting for Tibet: Evaluating the Divergent Goals and Strategies of Tibetan Activists”; “Attackers and Defenders of World Cup Soccer”