Teaching Philosophy

Passionate engagement, open communication, and critical thinking are the core values that shape my pedagogical approach. In my experience, the best teachers kindle curiosity in their students through lectures, discussions, and assignments that are clear, accessible, thought provoking, and empowering. My student-centered approach fosters collaborative learning environments that prioritize sustained engagement, dialogue, and collective growth over numerical outcomes, thus encouraging students to develop skills that transcend the specificities of a single academic subject. While I am obviously deeply passionate about teaching music, helping students blossom into confident, compassionate, self-aware thinkers and communicators is always of greater importance to me than bestowing course-specific knowledge or skills. I hope my embodiment of these values will inspire students, expand their intellectual and musical horizons, and empower them to dream big and take risks.

As a musician, scholar, and educator, my musical and intellectual journeys are inextricably intertwined. My commitment to remaining active as a practicing and performing musician sustains my enthusiasm for teaching collegiate music courses to students with variable levels of experience, from those taking their first introductory survey course through to the upper levels of a music major. I remain a firm believer that encountering music—as a listener, musician, or both—provides unique possibilities for developing social awareness and deepening intercultural sensitivity. My training in diverse forms of percussion, from drum kit and orchestral percussion to Hindustani (North Indian) drumming and Indonesian gamelan ensembles, has prepared me to introduce students to transcultural paradigms that challenge them to think globally and reflect critically on the enculturation of their own values, intellectual perspectives, and musical norms.

In addition to emphasizing cultural and intellectual diversity in my course design, I honor the diverse backgrounds and unique academic needs of my students in cultivating an equitable and inclusive learning environment. By combining aural, visual, and written materials with individual and group assignments, I present course content using multiple modalities and provide students with opportunities to showcase their strengths, practice where they need improvement, and chart their own creative path through a course while also fulfilling its basic requirements. Short reading responses, regular listening journals, discussion forums, and analytical essays invite students to think expansively and make broad connections between and among topics.

Above all, I value my students as active collaborators and co-creaters of a shared educational experience rather than as passive recipients of knowledge. One of the most important skills students can develop, in my opinion, is the ability to communicate openly, honestly, and responsibly with their peers and instructors. As we prepare them to thrive in a range of social and professional settings, we owe it to our students to provide educational environments that encourage genuine engagement, responsible communication, critical dialogue, and interpersonal growth.