I offer classes in our undergraduate Political Science and graduate (MPA) programs. I have been fortunate to receive the University’s highest award in teaching (Board of Governors Teaching Award) & in 2013 I was named the NC Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. I have also published a few articles on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

I’ve taught a variety of courses over the years including Introduction to American Politics, Political Communication, Southern Politics, Parties, Campaigns and Elections, Election Administration (MPA), State and Local Politics, State and Local Governance (MPA), Policy Analysis (MPA), Public Administration, Public Affairs Administration (MPA), Political Analysis I, Political Analysis II, and Research Methods for Public Affairs (MPA). I’ve taught in residential programs abroad in the Netherlands, and Germany, and travel courses in London and Paris. Here are descriptions of a few recent courses.

Election Administration

This is a course that I created in our MPA program meant to introduce graduate students to research and practice in election administration.

Here’s a syllabus from Spring, 2025.

Southern Politics

This is an upper-level course in our undergraduate Political Science major. Sometimes I teach it alone, sometimes as a co-taught class with a colleague in the History Department.

Here’s an example from Spring, 2024

Parties, Campaigns and Elections

I teach this upper-level undergraduate course every other Fall. There’s never a shortage of topics to talk about.

Here’s a syllabus from Fall, 2024.

State & Local Government

This is an upper-level course for our undergraduate Political Science majors, although social science education and criminal justice majors also frequently take this course.

Here’s a syllabus from Fall, 2021.

State and Local Governance

This is a class in our MPA program. Although the name is similar to the undergraduate version, the graduate version has a much greater emphasis on the practice of state and local government.

Here’s a recent syllabus.

Research Methods for Public Affairs

This course is meant to introduce MPA students to the practice of empirical research—with an eye towards how research can improve governance. The course includes research design and statistics through OLS regression.

Here’s a syllabus.