At the end of last semester, you might remember that I studied for a core exam to test out of one of the SAIS required courses, Evolution of the International System.
I did pretty well, and I ended up applying for and getting a TA position to help the professor teach the class this semester. I get to help teach my favorite subject: history, during my favorite time period: the Long 19th Century. Exciting right? I know!!
I took the equivalent of this course at Stanford with a visiting professor named Jonathan Haslam, who apparently taught at SAIS at some point. The professor I get to work with this time around is Thomas Row, who has a very rich understanding of European History, is an inspiring lecturer, and also likes to hang out after class and talk shop over wine.
He's a fun guy - he even made an appearance at the Viennese Ball!
My duties as a TA are to run two TA sessions every week where I go over historical themes and details to supplement the lecture. Lots of people come to listen to me talk, and I'm not going to lie - it makes me feel kinda special. I also have office hours that no one comes to.
The TA sessions require a lot of prep time, but I really love to do it. We're talking about the guy who bought his high school AP European History book off eBay so he could read it for fun years later.
That's so awesome! I can completely see you being an amazing teacher.
ReplyDelete-Jill