Teaching
Philosophy
In my classes, I prioritize active learning and tutorial-style instruction. Whether it's a methods course, substantive course, undergraduate lecture, or graduate seminar, students can expect to get up, move, and participate. Get ready to participate in experiments, run simulations, debate policy effectiveness, hold mock elections, analyze data, and participate in narrative-driven lectures.
Students can also expect plenty of opportunities for 1-1 instruction and small group seminars. My goal is to meet students where their interests are and tailor instruction to engage and severely challenge each student.
Average
Course Score
9.30/10
Average Instructor Score
9.49/10
Historical Political Economy
Course Rating: TBT/10
Instructor Rating: TBT/10
This course asks and tries to answer: 1) How and why do states form? 2) After states form, how do they consolidate and grow? 3) How do states carry out decisions? 4) How and why do rulers share power with others? 5) How do states determine who takes power? 6) What role do non-state institutions play in the governing actions of historical regimes? and 7) Why and how do regime types change over time? For each question, we consider evidence from Ancient Egypt, Ancient/Medieval China, and Medieval Europe.
Political Economy of Development
Course Rating: 9.36/10
Instructor Rating: 9.26/10
This course covers cutting-edge research on the political economy of development. We focus on the role political incentives and institutions have on social and economic outcomes. We read work by sociologists, political scientists, and economists with a focus on causal inferential statistics and formal theoretical modeling, while covering topics like protests, economic inequality, racial conflict, economic growth, and democratic backsliding.
Research Design and Methods
Course Rating: 9.25/10
Instructor Rating: 9.64/10
This course introduces you to the theory and methods of contemporary political science and how political scientists conduct research. We learn how to ask answerable research questions, generate hypotheses, design a research plan, adjudicate between different research methodologies, learn of to measure and collect data, and use that data to evaluate your hypotheses. Finally, we learn to apply social scientific reasoning to evaluate claims by commentators, pundits, scholars, and other social scientists.
Comparative Politics
Course Rating: TBT/10
Instructor Rating: TBT/10
This course exposes you to the main theoretical ideas in comparative politics. Together, we dissect theories and apply them to countries across time and across the world. In dissecting these theories, we learn how to interpret and evaluate the quantitative evidence supporting or combating these theories. With a strong emphasis on comparing democracies and autocracies, we examine political-economic systems, censorship, bureaucracies, political parties, voting, succession, and political violence.
Research Design and Methods (Spring 2024)
"Bradley was excellent. He was always enthusiastic about our projects and helpful when answering questions. He clearly wanted us all to be successful in the course and I appreciate how he reviewed main concepts that might appear on the quizzes or final exam. He really helped make the research paper feel less overwhelming because he was willing to take so much time outside of class to answer questions."
Research Design and Methods (Fall 2025)
"I really liked that he had us work in small groups to workshop different theories, hypothesis, etc. It helped to talk to other students to see and hear how they think. I also really appreciated how accessible he was in terms of meeting about feedback on our papers and all the assignments leading up to that. He was very helpful and also very charismatic during class, made me enjoy coming to class on a Friday. I feel like I really established a relationship with my TA, and he was very funny and personable."
Political Economy of Development (Fall 2024)
"The readings were soooo interesting, and I like the set up of this class."
"I thought it would be a little more structured, in terms of having the teachers explaining things and all the little things about development, but I’m happy it wasn’t like this."
"I really liked the professors and thought the facilitation of discussion was very engaging."