UNT SMHM 2800: Study Abroad in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Hosted by Mahidol University
“Jennifer put a much appreciated emphasis on our responsibility to the material and to participation in section. She encouraged us to always try and answer questions and throw out ideas when we were unsure. She fostered an environment where students were held accountable and were encouraged to solve problems on their own. She did provide excellent guidance when students needed it and helped to direct them to other professors and resources when applicable and appropriate. Additionally, her weekly discussion themes were excellent and really helped to provide structure to the section.”
Courses as Instructor
Occidental College (Oxy), Los Angeles, California, USA
DWA 201 International Organizations: undergraduate intro course (25 students).
University of North Texas (UNT), Denton, Texas, USA
ANTH 4500 Language & Culture: advanced undergraduate anthropology course (25 students, 2 semesters).
ANTH 3140 Latinos in the U.S.: advanced undergraduate anthropology course (45 students).
HGMT 4980 Intro to International Sustainable Tourism: designed and taught new undergraduate course (45 students, 2 semesters).
INST 2980 Global Perspectives: Intro to International Study: designed and taught pilot undergraduate seminar (5 students).
SMHM 2800 Foundations of International Travel & Tourism (study abroad): co-led study abroad courses to Costa Rica, and to Thailand (15 students, 2 summer terms).
SMHM 2800 Foundations of International Travel & Tourism: intermediate undergraduate course (75 students).
Courses as Teaching Assistant
University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, California, USA
IR 101xg Intro to International Relations: undergraduate general education course (50 students, 2 semesters).
IR 211g International Relations: Approaches to Research: undergraduate general education course (50 students).
IR 316 Gender & Global Issues: undergraduate advanced course (50 students).
POSC 371 European Political Thought II: undergraduate advanced course (50 students).
Guest Teaching
Tropical Agricultural Research & Higher Education Center (CATIE), Turrialba, Costa Rica
MIST 501 Context and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism Development: master’s required course (10 students).
SA 516A Sustainable Development: master’s required course (Spanish; 10 students).
Workshop - Introduction to Research Project Design: master’s/Ph.D. level (English and Spanish; 15 students each, 2 workshops).
Workshop - Effective Presentations: undergrad/master’s/Ph.D.students, faculty, and staff (in Spanish; 20 participants).
University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, California, USA
Workshop: Evaluating Students Based on Course Learning Objectives (part of a Teaching Professionalization Workshop Series for Ph.D. students).
University of North Texas (UNT), Denton, Texas, USA
PHIL 4053,5780/BIOL 4053,5053 Intro to Subantarctic Biocultural Conservation: combined graduate/undergraduate course on environmental ethics, biology and culture (25 students plus additional participating universities via videoconference).
Additional guest lectures and speaking engagements can be found on the Outreach page.
Invited Lectures
“She is a very good professor. I enjoyed the way she choose to include many aspects of Latino culture...She made the class very interesting with the wide range of topics that we covered.”
Leading a workshop at CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica
My teaching philosophy centers on teaching critical thinking through an understanding of strong argumentation.
“Jenn was really accessible to students, which I appreciated. She also didn’t spoon-feed us answers which forced us to think critically on our own. Whenever I went to her office hours, she explained the concepts clearly.”
This goal allows me to focus on several key concepts that allow students to explain the world around them - and particularly global politics - in a compelling way: understanding facts versus opinions, determining reliable sources, providing evidence for one’s argument, employing logical thinking to identify weaknesses in one’s hypotheses, and strengthening speaking and writing skills along the way. This requires a teaching approach that centers heavily on mentorship: ensuring all students feel they play a role in the learning community, being attentive to individual histories and abilities, being consistently available, and ensuring a respectful environment where all voices can be heard and points can be deconstructed in a way that is instructive for everyone. I have paid particular attention to underrepresented students in academia in this process - women, scholars of color, scholars from the Global South, and first-generation students - in an effort to create a more just environment and equitable opportunities whenever possible.
My experience teaching higher education courses in several different disciplines since 2009 has allowed me to fine tune my day-to-day methods. These include employing constant student participation during class, encouraging without forcing students to speak, using engaging ways to present material, incorporating real-life applications of concepts, and consistently reinforcing key frameworks students can use for analysis to promote long-term retention. Creating clear, measurable, and aligned learning objectives is a key component, and something I have trained other instructors in as well.
“Prof Roglà organized this course very coherently and clearly. I have only been in one other course at Oxy...where the professor was so overwhelmingly clear. Every time I would come to class, I was rarely confused by the complex concepts because she was able to break everything down into comprehensible terms. Roglà has the sharpest mind out of any professor I have had. She is very warm and personable while also being able to push students to think beyond of [sic] initial reactions to concepts. I know she will go very far in her career and I feel very lucky being taught by her.”
Occidental Students from DWA 201 Visiting Costa Rica
