(Picture: From a Center for International Security Studies crisis simulation. During five one-hour rounds, attendees from the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Military Academy (West Point) and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs practiced formulating strategy.)
As preceptor* at Princeton University, I have taught the following courses:
- POL/WWS – International Relations (Head Preceptor), Spring 2018, with Professor Andrew Moravcsik.
The introductory course to International Relations, held jointly by the Department of Politics and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Topics include: Theoretical paradigms of IR, the international politics of trade, liberalization and embedded liberalism, war, terrorism, and the future of international relations.
- Quantitative Analysis IV – Bayesian Machine Learning (PhD level), Spring 2017, with Professor Marc Ratkovic.
The final and capstone course in the politics PhD quantitative methods sequence at Princeton University. Topics: Generative Models, Bayesian Statistics, Generalized Linear Models, MCMC inference, Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, Sparse Models and RBMs, Graphical Models and Latent Factor Models, Causal Discovery, Oracle Inequalities.
- Quantitative Analysis I – Probability Theory (PhD level), Fall 2016, with Professor John Londregan
The foundations of data analysis and the first course in the politics PhD quantitative methods sequence at Princeton University. Topics: events, sample spaces, probability distributions, conditional expectations, various k-variate distributions, Bayesian inference, introduction to MCMC and Gibbs sampling.
I’ve found that mid-semester feedback a helpful tool to calibrate my teaching. An example form is available here.
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As Student Fellow at the International Center for Security Studies, I have participated in the following as part of the Strategic Education Initiative:
- Crisis Simulation, Fall 2015: Adviser to the Japan Military Team in crisis simulation centered on nuclear proliferation in North-East Asia.
- Grand Strategy Simulation, Spring 2016: Control cell, China Team.
- Crisis Simulation, Fall 2016: Adviser to the Iran Executive Team in crisis simulation centered on instability in South Asia.
- Grand Strategy Simulation, Spring 2017: Control cell, United States Manager.
- Cold War Staff Ride, Spring 2017: Presented on the role of technology during the Cold War (Fulda, Germany), also met with NATO representatives (Brussels, Belgium).
- Spanish Civil War Staff Ride, Spring 2018: Presented on the offensive-defensive balance at battleground near Bilbao, Spain.
- Crisis Simulation, Fall 2018: Adviser to the Russia Executive team in simulation centered on the outbreak of conflict in the Caucasus.
In crisis simulations, students were a mix of United States Military Academy cadets, Naval Academy midshipmen, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs MPP and MPA, and undergraduate students. Grand Strategy simulations were limited to Princeton School of Public and International Affairs students.
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Together with Cory Isaacs, I am in 2018-2019 organizing the Crisis and Grand Strategy Simulations of the Center for International Security Studies. Together with Audrey Wong, I was in 2017-2018 organizing the Security Studies Colloquium. This series brings scholars working at the intersection of social science and policy to Princeton to speak about their work in a small seminar attended by graduate students and faculty. The series’ goal is “to bring in speakers whose work demonstrates the value of using rigorous social science to inform debate over pressing policy issues.”
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*Preceptor: Preceptor is the term used for graduate students assisting faculty in teaching at Princeton. A typical division of labor for PhD-level courses is two lectures per week held by the faculty member, and one “precept” session done by the preceptor. Both the faculty member and the preceptor hold office hours and take part in grading. In Quantitative Analysis IV, there was no weekly precept.