Megan Kurten (‘18) is a Ph.D. candidate and Adjunct Instructor in Comparative Politics at American University in Washington, D.C.
Kurten is currently teaching a class on comparative politics after leading online courses on political action and public policy over the summer. Kurten’s new role allows her to lecture on the theoretical and empirical approaches to studying policy and politics.
“We talk about current events and how they support or challenge conventional ideas about politics and political science,” Kurten said. “I also coach students on effective reading comprehension and argumentative writing at the college level.”
Kurten said that it was her experiences at the Clinton School that helped her realize how much she loved class discussions and research.
“Teaching college classes on politics offers really great opportunities to be in that environment and to work cooperatively with other people through political and social ideas,” Kurten said. “That’s what I enjoy most. I love working with students and talking about their ideas and questions and how to do analytical and scientific research to answer those questions.”
As someone who enrolled at the Clinton School with a strong interest in politics and diplomacy, Kurten said that those interests were further developed through her classes and instructors, as was her passion for research.
“That was really nourished at the Clinton School, both in our classes where we talked about American policy and politics and also in our global development classes,” Kurten said. “I was originally pursuing the joint JD-MPS dual degree program, but I fell in love with research at the Clinton School, and knew that was my next vocational and professional step.”
As a Clinton School student, Kurten’s field service projects worked to complement the Clinton School’s classroom experience. She partnered with DecARcerate for her Capstone project, focusing on racial disparities and mass incarceration in Arkansas. Her International Public Service project included a monitoring and evaluation effort for an organization with education programs in 13 countries.
“We realized how difficult it was to compare those countries on some of our outcomes and variables of interest,” Kurten said. “A lot of the questions that dynamic generated are answered by comparative politics. So, I got really interested in the types of comparative politics research that can answer questions about politics and power and patronage between populations in different contexts. In our complicated and information-saturated empirical world, comparative political science can really help us understand the relationships and factors that are affecting large-scale political and social outcomes.”
Kurten said that her time at the Clinton School – and experiences with Clinton School instructors – taught her skills that she uses every day in the classroom at American University.
“In the classroom, I’ve modeled most of my approach after some of my amazing Clinton School teachers,” Kurten said. “We do activities like the climate and food insecurity simulations I did at the Clinton School to let students engage practically with theoretical material. In my research, I use research design, critical analysis, program and design evaluation, data analysis, and project collaboration in my work on political violence, criminal politics, and political polarization.”
In addition to her Master of Public Service, Kurten is a graduate of Hendrix College with a degree in history and political science.
“Teaching has been a long-term goal, and it is a long-term plan,” Kurten said. “My goals are to find a position at a school where I am able to teach comparative politics and American politics classes, work with students on their research and writing, and conduct my own research particularly on states’ interactions with violent non-state actors, like criminal organizations or terrorist groups.”
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