Faculty Resources for Instruction
My goal every time I enter the classroom is to find new ways to foster intellectual curiosity alongside my students, so that their learning continues beyond the scope of my lessons. To this end, I take a principle-based approach to learning and instruction that strengthens active learning pedagogies. Briefly, I prioritize three primary principles: 1) elevating an academic and practical understanding of social science; 2) focusing on depth before complexity; and 3) exemplifying collaborative learning. For any techniques I incorporate in the classroom, from simulations to visual aids during lecture, I rely on these principles to focus the goal toward intellectual curiosity.... (Read my complete teaching philosophy)
The compendium below offers course materials to other instructors who prioritize similar goals in the classroom. I am consistently updating this collection, and I welcome an open, mutually respectful dialogue for improvement. If you have any comments or questions regarding these materials, please feel free to reach out by email at little.erin@uga.edu. :)
Syllabi
Introduction to American Politics Introduction to Global Issues International Law
Introduction to International Relations War and Human Security International Humanitarian Law
Introduction to Comparative Politics Food Security (SPIA a Firenze) Advanced International Law (under revision)
State Design and Simulation Activity
For my Comparative Politics class in particular, I have my students work in groups to meet several criteria for state development. I allow a significant degree of student agency, including governance, population, and economic structure as well as territorial features and state cultural and political history. Then, based on the states they develop, a design a map using Inkarnate, a free online map-making platform. I design a crisis simulation that is ongoing for the remainder of the semester in which each state must tackle a domestic conflict that would naturally arise from how they organize their political structure and economy, as well as a regional crisis that all states must interact with as they resolve these domestic conflicts.
Email me to request the most updated version of the following:
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State Design Form
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Simulation Map Example
International Law Simulation Dossier
Toward the end of my international law course, after we have engaged in a series of moot court activities and thoroughly examined common legal sources for a set of public international law regimes, I conduct a simulation designed to challenge students to explore the relationship between state interest and legal compliance. Most recently, I have developed and used a dossier that analyzes the hypothetical scenario that may result if the Taliban in Pakistan (TTP) were to take over the Pakistani government. The dossier itself can also be used for any class that focus on International Affairs.
Email me to request the most updated version of the following:
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Taliban in Pakistan - An International Law Simulation Dossier
International Humanitarian Law Decision Tree and Twine Activity
In my inaugural semester teaching International Humanitarian Law, I conducted an activity to help students internalize the nuances and difficulties complying with the Law of Distinction between civilians and military personnel. This activity highlights particular difficulties that emerge when individual soldiers must evaluate and make in-the-moment decisions, especially during civil conflict, in which the identities between non-state militants and official forces is already unclear. I had my students work in groups to develop a 2-stage decision tree based on a scenario of their own writing, which intrinsically required them to evaluate multiple potential motivations and outcomes concerning civilian protection during civil conflict. I then used a Twine script to transfer each of their decision trees into a short text-based roleplaying game that the other students in the class then had to play through, to see if they made decisions that ultimately protected civilians. By first allowing students the agency to write multiple decision paths and then play through others' paths, the students consistently reported in a debrief that they had learned about the Law of Distinction in some capacity from other classes, but this allowed them to see its inherent challenges from a new perspective.
Email me to request the most updated version of the following:
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Prompted instructions for the decision tree
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An example decision tree
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Twine script I used to compile the text-based games