My goal as a teacher is to empower students to ask questions of the world around them, even as they interrogate their own assumptions about society.  

Specifically, I have not only taught students about the criminal legal system but how to distinguish the difference between "justice" and "the law". As such, students in my law course examine cases of legal injustice, hold a week long mock trial exercise and reflect and write about the complexities of the legal system. 

I also recognize the importance of incorporating engaged learning opportunities within classroom learning. To this end, students have participated in court room observations, community hearings on criminal justice policy and incorporated their co-curricular experiences in writing assignments. I have also had the privilege of teaching an engaged learning course, which involved students participating in a mentoring program at a Charlotte area business and traveling to Boston to collaborate with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute to conduct an evaluation of their annual walk for peace.

COURSES TAUGHT

Race and Justice

Law and Society

Juvenile Justice 

Introduction to Sociology

Criminal Law

Community and Police Relations (with Field Experience in Boston, MA)

Criminology