{"id":39,"date":"2020-12-04T13:48:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T18:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/totesa.website\/faculty\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:20:14","slug":"teaching-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/rmaass\/teaching\/teaching-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have taught international relations for more than 15 years at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in the United States and overseas. My teaching philosophy centers three pillars: transparency, creativity, and respect. Students and colleagues alike have remarked on the attention to detail in my syllabi; UE\u2019s Eykamp Center for Teaching Excellence used my Introduction to International Relations <\/em>syllabus for several years as its example for new faculty entering the university. I am open with students about all aspects of my pedagogy, maximizing their ability to succeed and minimizing any risk of confusion. For example, my syllabi regularly include key terms, discussion questions, and reference materials, as well as optional extra readings to aid students in diving deeper into subjects that resonate with their interests. I consciously connect design elements to learning goals, including: gaining knowledge to understand current events and their historical roots; developing analytical skills to persuasively weigh the logic and evidence of competing theories in both speech and writing; spurring original thinking through critiques of existing research and student research projects; and kindling interest in the political world to ensure students become informed citizens whatever career they choose.

I also value creativity in the classroom. I frequently use seminar-style discussions to cultivate engagement with diverse perspectives, as well as interactive assignments such as simulations, group exercises, debates, and presentations. I enjoy exploring innovative teaching methods; for example, I developed an approach to designing diplomatic simulations for my undergraduate International Security <\/em>course that later became the subject of a pedagogical publication: “DiploSim: A Flexible Framework for Diplomatic Simulations in International Relations<\/a>” (International Studies Perspectives<\/em>, 2023). I intentionally build opportunities for repeated engagement with course material in ways that reinforce long-term learning. For example, I often begin each class with refreshers on the major takeaways from the previous class, end each class by summarizing key takeaways, and use weekly quizzes that repeat several questions from the previous quiz (incentivizing students to review their notes). I embrace creativity not only for fun (though it is fun), but because it reflects my belief in pedagogical inclusivity in the classroom, recognizing that different students learn better by engaging a subject in different ways and that all students learn better by engaging a subject in multiple ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No amount of transparency or creativity would suffice without an atmosphere of mutual respect that makes students feel empowered to take agency in their learning. To me, this means managing the classroom with empathy and inclusivity, ensuring that a voice is given to the full range of perspectives in the classroom\u2014and, through readings and my own interventions, to additional perspectives beyond the classroom. By building on students\u2019 comments and fostering productive dialogues, I strive to cultivate in-class participation through constructive reinforcement, building a sense of shared journey through the learning process. I find deep fulfillment in students\u2019 appreciation for how my courses prepared them for life beyond the university, whether pursuing graduate programs or careers in academia, government, and the nonprofit sector. I enjoy mentoring student research, having supervised a number of PhD dissertations, MA theses, and undergraduate senior theses, and I have also co-authored two research papers with students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have taught international relations for more than 15 years at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in the United States and overseas. My teaching philosophy centers three pillars: transparency, creativity, and respect. Students and colleagues alike have remarked on the attention to detail in my syllabi; UE\u2019s Eykamp Center for Teaching Excellence used my… <\/p>\n

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