Courses
Undergraduate Courses I have taught
POLI 231 Introduction to Political Theory / POLI 232: Introduction to Modern Political Thought
POLI 333: History of Political Thought I: Ancient
POLI 362: Political Theory and International Relations
POLI 367: Liberal Political Theory
POLI 433: History of Political Thought III: 16-18th Century Europe
POLI 434: History of Political Thought IV: 19-20th Century Europe
POLI 459: Topics in Political Theory: Human Rights; Justice and Reconciliation
POLI 561: Political Theory Honours Seminar: Justice and Reconciliation; Global Justice and Colonialism
Graduate Seminars (POLI 613 or 617) I have taught
1. International Political Theory (PT or IR credit)
2. Global Justice
3. Philosophers on War and Peace (PT or IR credit)
4. Justice and Reconciliation
5. Proseminar in Political Theory: Justice and Politics, Ancient and Modern
Reference Letters
Guidelines:
In general, you want letters from professors in whose courses you did particularly well. If you did significantly better in other professors' courses, you should consider soliciting letters from them first.
For admission to graduate programs, you will ordinarily need letters from professors in whose courses you received an A- or better. My policy is to write letters for students who have received at least an A- in my courses; otherwise, it is very difficult for me to write a letter that would help you get into any competitive program.
If you were a student in one of my large lecture courses (over 80 students) and you did not get to know me well personally, it would be helpful if you request that your TA from the course e-mail me a quotable blurb that I can build into my letter(s). The TA must email me directly, and not you.
Specific Instructions:
Once I have agreed to write a reference letter for you, I will need at least FOUR weeks’ notice to submit a letter. This means that you should send me all relevant documents for your applications (preferably in one email) at least FOUR weeks before the first deadline for a letter of recommendation. For example, if the deadline is December 1, you should send me by November 1, all relevant materials (your CV, transcript, statement of purpose or study, writing sample from my course, necessary application forms, etc.). Try to send in one or two emails, otherwise, I may lose track of your items and not be able to write a complete letter
Your email request for recommendation letters should have a clear list summarizing or listing the various programs/schools to which you are applying, and the relevant deadlines.
Ensure that you have given me all relevant materials to help me support your application. This includes your McGill transcript (Minerva unofficial version is fine), your current CV, your research statement or course of study statement (if applicable), and a copy of an original writing assignment that you submitted to one of my courses (the copy would be marked with my or a TA’s comments). A PDF scan of this paper is fine. Send in one email as attachments.
For any forms I must fill out, you MUST complete ALL required personal information at the top of the form. I will not fill out forms with blank or incomplete personal information.