Teaching Philosophy
Urban spaces are shaped by complex processes, some shared across contexts and others deeply rooted in place. Students must be equipped to understand and navigate these complexities as the manifest uniquely in different settings. Doing so requires acknowledging marginalized voices, engaging lived experiences and recognizing how positionality influences the way we see and interpret the world around us. My teaching philosophy is therefore grounded in the principles that knowledge production as collective, contextual, and grounded in lived experience. I approach teaching as a process of co-learning and mutual inquiry, where theory and practice intersect to help students critically examine urban life.
Teaching Expertise
Graduate Level
UP 505: Urban and Regional Analysis
ARC 501: Advanced Design Studio
Undergraduate Level
UP 185: Cities in a Global Perspective
AFST 222: Introduction to Modern African Studies
Teaching Evalauations
‘ “This course taught me that there are a lot of different things that make up a city. Many things that aren’t often seen help keep that city afloat, for example, migrants working, informal markets, and invisible infrastructure. I also took away that to understand a city you have to look at the historical, cultural, and environmental factors to understand a city.
“Throughout this course I have learned a lot about how the global south and global north exist both geographically and locally. I think the activity that first broadened my understanding of the how different people experience a city differently was the practice story map of Tehran.”
“I believe everything has stayed with me. Every topic was interesting and important to learn more about, while a lot of the topics are issues I had already learned about, there was still various intriguing details that I had never heard about. I believe both the class lectures & the group activities, I was able to understand the topic a little more with the lecture and the group activity helped to put it out into examples.”
“One thing that I have learned is the importance of development when it comes to neighborhood and how cultures can affect what’s created and what is used. The activity that I enjoyed the most was mapping the informal and formal markets because it allowed for me to understand how the two go hand and hand to strive. - I had a great time in this class and enjoyed everything you have taught me.”
“ My perspective on how different people experience the city differently was most strengthened throughout the semester by the group activities, when we got to debate by playing the role of different people. This is because we really got to step into the shoes of both city planners and individuals among other roles, which helped understand the challenges they go through, whether its decision making from a policy makers perspective, or dealing with those decisions from the perspective of a working class individual.”
“Colonial past and present inequalities in global south, the lecture and class discussions are memorable.”