About
As the Associate Director of Inclusion Initiatives, I work with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Temple University to lead the design and implementation of inclusive teaching practices as well as mentoring initiatives aimed at enhancing student and faculty belonging and success. A first-generation scholar with a Ph.D. in Political Science from UCLA and twenty years of teaching experience, I value holistic and reflective teaching practices that center students and value their lived experiences.
At the CAT, I provide consultations, classroom observations, and workshops on inclusive teaching, hybrid/in-person/online course design, teaching and diversity statements, teaching portfolios, and navigating challenging discussions. With my team, I co-facilitate the Teaching for Equity Institute, the Provost Teaching Academy, New Faculty Orientation, and TA Orientation, along with customized workshops for the entire university, including Temple Japan and Temple Rome. I founded the AAPI Faculty & Staff Affinity Group at Temple University and serve as an Outreach Co-Coordinator for the POD Network’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Committee. Recently, I published an article on inclusive pedagogy in The Journal of Political Science Education and our book with Routledge/Taylor & Francis, Through the Lens: Perspectives of Educational Developers of Color with Derina Samuel, Amanda Valdespino, and Sara Mazrouei is forthcoming (early 2025). Ariel Siegelman, Jennifer Zaylea, and I have a book contract with Routledge/Taylor & Francis on teaching and assessing Digital Storytelling projects (due to the publisher in June 2025).
Thanks for stopping by my page!
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If you are interested in what I did before becoming an educational developer in January 2020:
I taught political science at UCLA, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles), Franklin & Marshall College, and the University of Bridgeport. I earned both my B.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. My scholarship on gender politics was published in the following peer-reviewed journals: Politics, Groups, and Identities; Journal of Women, Politics & Policy; US-Japan Women’s Journal; Representation; Women’s Studies International Forum; and the International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. My commentary has appeared in The Economist, The BBC World Service, WBEZ Chicago/NPR, The Japan Times, and other media outlets. I have been an invited speaker at Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, the University of Zurich, Ochanomizu University, and Haverford College. Service to the profession includes co-organizing the 2018 Japan-America Women Political Scientists Symposium (JAWS) for the American Political Science Association.
In my discipline of political science, I served as a mentor to minority women doctoral students and junior scholars for the American Political Science Association (APSA). In 2021 and 2022, I presented on a roundtable on the Inclusive Syllabus, collaborated in a Symposium on Teaching Race, Ethnicity & Politics where I contributed resources for a more AAPI inclusive syllabus, and served on the Presidential Task Force on Rethinking Political Science Education for the American Political Science Association. At previous institutions, I founded groups for minority and first generation students and faculty, and I have dedicated my career to promoting equity, representation, and inclusion in higher education. Until December, 2019, I was an Assistant Professor of Political Science and served as the Program Chair for Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.
Temple’s Teaching for Equity Institute which I helped to develop with my Director and colleagues at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
Blog post from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching’s EdVice Exchange Blog Series on preparing for difficult discussions.
Recent Webinar on Inclusive Teaching for the American Political Science Association: Building an Inclusive Syllabus.
Story on our new AAPI Faculty & Staff Affinity Group at Temple University.
My role as a facilitator for a 4-day workshop for the American Political Science Association’s Asia Programs.
