Teaching

MJ brings their expertise in social categories and interaction to every course they teach, both in content and pedagogical approach. Using empirically-grounded strategies to foster self-motivated learning, MJ gives students license to follow their curiosity while guiding their development as thinkers, writers, and doers.

MJ's courses transform how students understand the social world and their own power as social agents. Students come to see themselves as members of collaborative learning communities—both within the classroom and beyond it. By ensuring each student feels supported to take productive risks and explore new ways of thinking, MJ's courses leave students with the skills and drive to keep using their sociological imagination wherever they go next.

MJ holds a Certificate in Writing Pedagogy from UCLA and trained fellow graduate students in pedagogy and course development for the UCLA Interdepartmental Clusters Program from 2018 to 2021.

Recognition

Silton Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award, UCLA Dept. of Sociology (2021)

UCLA Collegium of University Teaching Fellows (2020-2021)

Excellence in Teaching Award, UCLA Dept. of Sociology (2016)

Courses Taught

Introductory Sociology

Sociology of Gender

Sociology of Family

Special Topics Seminars:

"What's in a Pronoun? Doing & Undoing the Gender Binary in Social Interaction"

"Shaping Our Gender Futures"

"Sociology of Gender & the Body"

Additional courses taught in a supportive role:

Development of Sociological Theory

Sociology of Religion

Sex: From Biology to Gendered Society

Structures of Conversation

Social Interaction

Sociology of the Environment