Teaching
My pedagogical approach to teaching is to create a learning environment where students feel empowered to ask questions and are able to take what they learn in their spaces of higher education back to their communities. I aim to foster a space where students are also able to understand the importance of their lived experiences in their educational environments.
Courses I Teach
Latino Politics
This course examines the political development and dynamics of the Latino/a/e community in the United States, from identity formation and political participation to the community's evolving relationship with U.S. political institutions, parties, and electoral coalitions. Students explore how immigration policy, racial discrimination, and voting rights shape Latino political behavior, and consider the relationships between Latino communities and other racialized groups. The course culminates in an original research project, developed from proposal through a final paper and oral presentation. [Sample Syllabus]
Political Psychology
This seminar explores how psychological processes shape political beliefs, attitudes, and behavior, drawing on research in psychology, behavioral science, and experimental methods. Students engage with core theoretical frameworks — including social identity theory, system justification, social dominance theory, and intergroup conflict — to understand cognitive heuristics, motivated reasoning, emotion, prejudice, and social influence in political life, and to analyze how these dynamics shape polarization and conflict in real-world political contexts. [Sample Syllabus]
Introduction to American Politics
This course offers a broad introduction to American politics, covering both the formal structures of government and the social and cultural forces that shape political life in the United States. Students examine core institutions — Congress, the presidency, the judiciary, and federalism — alongside political processes such as elections, policy-making, and political participation, with attention to how public opinion, identity, polarization, and media shape political outcomes. Students leave the course able to interpret contemporary political events using social-scientific frameworks and to communicate political analysis clearly in writing. [Sample Syllabus]
Mentorship
Beyond the classroom, I mentor undergraduate researchers through Pomona's Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), guiding students through the full arc of a project — from research design and, where relevant, IRB review, through data analysis and a final poster presentation. This past summer I supervised two SURP fellows: one conducting a qualitative interview study on identity and belonging among first-generation, low-income Latino students, and the other running a quantitative analysis of language and political engagement using the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey.
I also currently serve as Mellon Academic Coordinator for the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) at the Claremont Colleges, where I run the junior and senior research seminars, build curriculum, and mentor first-generation, low-income students of color considering doctoral study. As a former McNair Scholar myself, this work is personal — I know how daunting it can feel to consider a PhD without a roadmap, and I aim to build a space where students feel confident asking questions and pursuing research at every stage.