Teaching Experience

In Winter 2025 I am teaching a personally-developed course titled "Environment, Politics, and Society in Russia" at the University of Michigan.


Environment, Politics, and Society in Russia examines the complex interplay between environmental issues and societal dynamics within the context of Imperial, Soviet, and contemporary Russia. This interdisciplinary course integrates core environmental sociology theories with historical and modern case studies, focusing on resource extraction, colonial legacies, environmental inequality, and the role of various social actors. Students critically analyze how natural resources shape regional economies, influence state policies, and impact lives through lenses of media representation, activism, and indigenous perspectives. Through engaging discussions, research projects, and multimedia explorations, the course equips students with a nuanced understanding of environmental challenges in Russia and their global implications. The insights gained encourage students to critically assess the intersection of environment and politics in shaping Russia's future. 

This upper-level course is cross-listed in Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

In the Winter 2021 term, I had the unique opportunity to design and teach a 400-level course, Sociology of Corruption (SOC 410), which was introduced for the first time in the department. 

This course provided an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted relationship between corruption and macro- and micro-level processes, culture, society, and inequality. We began with foundational concepts, such as the roles of social capital and social networks, before delving into diverse definitions, perspectives, and theories central to corruption studies. Together, we examined how political, economic, and sociological dynamics shape corruption within key sectors like education, healthcare, law enforcement, and government institutions. Using comparative analysis, the course highlighted corruption practices across various cultural and institutional contexts, drawing on case studies from the United States, China, Russia, other Post-Soviet states, Western Europe, and South America. Through this interdisciplinary lens, students gained a deeper understanding of corruption as a socially constructed phenomenon embedded within broader societal frameworks. Below are snippets from student evaluations that underscore the course's impact. 

In the Summer of 2021, I designed and taught a 300-level asynchronous online course, Research Methods (SOC 311). 

Over the four-week term, I created a comprehensive syllabus, selected an ideal textbook and supplemental materials, and built an engaging Canvas page to support online learning. The course provided students with a solid foundation in key research methods, including surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, and historical-comparative approaches, while emphasizing both their strengths and limitations. To highlight the importance of rigorous methodological practices, students examined case studies of research projects that violated ethical protocols or methodological standards. Assignments were carefully designed to offer hands-on experience, enabling students to apply their learning and ultimately develop and conduct their own original research projects. 


During the Summer 2019, I developed and taught my own 400-level asynchronous online course "Introduction to Sociology of Corruption"

According to the student reviews, the mean for the course was 4.4, which compares to the school's mean of 4.3.

Besides developing and teaching my own courses, I have also served as a Discussion Section AInstructor numerous times for introductory-level courses, such as:

I have also served as a Teaching Assistant (Grader) for the following courses: