My teaching portfolio includes courses in computational social science and quantitative research methods, social demography, law and society, crime and punishment, and comparative-historical sociology.
I have served as instructor-of-record for advanced undergraduate seminars at UC Berkeley (see below for course descriptions). I have also been a graduate student instructor for courses in Classical and Contemporary Social Theory, Economic Sociology, and Engineering Ethics.
Algorithms in Society
Sociologists frequently study how people and things are sorted into different categories according to race, gender, income, education, political allegiance, or criminal records. In the contemporary world, such classification often relies on technologies that process large amounts of behavioral, economic, or demographic data to determine credit scores, calculate the recidivism risk of criminal defendants, structure access to welfare services, allocate police officers to urban neighborhoods, write and curate news, personalize shopping recommendations, determine prices and driving directions, or select matches on dating websites. While algorithmic technologies are commonly relegated to the domain of computer science and regarded as inscrutable pieces of software, they are not just complex technological objects: Algorithms have social histories and tangible consequences in the world. They affect the structure of the social order, facilitate market exchanges, influence politics, and shape our sense of self. They can be studied with the tools of sociology; and studying them sociologically can illuminate the intricate links between technology and society. In this course, we will (1) explore the links between technology and familiar sociological topics like power, race, gender, and capitalism and (2) familiarize ourselves with sociological theories that aim to make sense of such links. The course does not assume any specific technical knowledge.
Surveillance Cultures
The collection of personalized and statistical data is a widely used technique of state power, a prerequisite of the digital economy, and a byproduct of everyday interactions on online platforms. In this course, we will develop an understanding of what can collectively be called “surveillance cultures” that is rooted in core sociological concerns about law and society, social inequality, and the administrative governance of social vulnerability. We will do so by complicating four common claims: (1) surveillance is a distinctly (post-)modern and digitally enabled form of social control; (2) the collection of personal and statistical data has become indiscriminate and ubiquitous; (3) being watched is now a widely accepted way of life that elicits little resistance; and (4) being visible is a form of imprisonment that undermines personal freedom. Each of these claims captures something important about surveillance in the contemporary world — but each can also simplify to the point of distortion. We will build our insights through critical engagement.