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Office Hours:
Fall 2023: 8:15-9:15am Tues/Thurs & by appt.

Visit here to schedule an appointment during my office hours.

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Letters of Recommendation:
I am happy to write letters of recommendations for students. To begin the process, please come talk with me. We will discuss your goals, and I will ask you for some items, including:​​

1. Information on what courses you took with me, when, and how you did. This helps me find the records.
2. An unofficial transcript. I can only access grades for the courses in which I served as the instructor. So if you want me to comment on your overall academic performance, I would need this item. If you do not want me to speak about overall academic performance, then there is no need to provide this item.
3. An updated resume/CV. This tells me about all the amazing things you do outside the classroom.
4. A draft of your personal statement, which tells me more about the motivation behind your application. It does not need to be in final form.
5. Information on the graduate programs or scholarship to which you are applying. This will be unnecessary for law and political science graduate programs, as I know them well.

                                                            EPCOT, Walt Disney World. Photo credit: Andrew Owsiak

​Writing letters can be time consuming, especially if done well. Thus, I typically request three weeks (minimum) so that I can read your materials and schedule time to write the letter, given other responsibilities and commitments. This will be particularly important if letters fall due at busy times (e.g., during end of semester/exams/grading in early December). 

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me or stop by my office hours.

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Course websites:
All course websites operate through the University of Georgia’s eLearning Commons website. Access the link below and log-in using your UGA MyID and password.

The University of Georgia eLearning Commons


Academic Calendars, Schedules, and Deadlines:
Information regarding the academic calendar, course schedule (current and future), and adding/dropping/withdrawing from courses can be found at the Registrar’s website. You may also need to work through the ATHENA system for course registration tasks.

The University of Georgia Registrar
The University of Georgia Athena System


Writing Resources:
Many of my courses cover the writing process (including creating annotated bibliographies, writing first drafts, and editing) and writing strategies. In addition to seeing me, students that would like additional assistance with their writing assignments can contact the UGA Writing Center. This office will not write assignments for you. Rather, they will help you develop your ideas, guide you through the writing process, and assist you in expressing yourself more clearly through your writing.

UGA Writing Center
APSA Style Guide

I also recommend the following writing resources for students. Each serves a slightly different purpose, and I will gladly discuss which of them will be most pertinent to your short- and long-term goals.

Mechanics:

• Strunk, William, and E.B. White. 2000. The Elements of Style, 4th edn. New York: Longman.
• Bullock, Richard, Michal Brody, and Francine Weinberg. (2017) The Little Seagull Handbook, 3rd edn. New York: W.W. Norton.
• Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2018. They Say, I Say, 4th edn. New York: W.W. Norton.

The Writing Process

• Zinsser, William. 2006. On Writing Well. New York: HarperCollins.
• Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor.
• Pinker, Steven. 2014. The Sense of Style. New York: Viking.
• Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Disability Services:
It is the policy and practice of the University of Georgia to create an inclusive learning environment. Students requiring accommodations (concerning course meetings, material, exams, or assignments) should discuss such matters with me at the outset of my courses (per my syllabi). Students are also encouraged to speak with the Disability Resource Center on campus.

UGA Disability Resource Center