Teaching

A central part of being a scholar-mentor is working closely with students to attempt to provide a rigorous and transformative education. More than just shaping future historians, I seek to shape and provide care for the whole person, or cura personalis, which is at the heart of the Jesuit pedagogical tradition. With over a dozen years teaching experience at both a state school in Massachusetts and a liberal arts college in Denver, I have taught a wide variety of courses across different areas of the curriculum. 

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I have taught several sections of a writing seminar on Nobel Peace Laureates of Africa and their Worlds that is one part the mechanics of writing, one part modern African history, and one part vocational discernment where I encourage students to see these great figures of Africa not as some sort of sanctified saints, but normal people who all simply took the time to reflect on their experiences and then acted to find solutions to their community's problems. I also teach a first-year research course on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which focuses on communication and research skills. Another inter-disciplinary lower division course I've taught for many years is on Sustainability and Collapse in World History which looks at ancient civilizations and asks the question why did some ancient societies succeed while others collapsed, and what path is our own society on. We do this by looking through the lenses of environmentalism, politics, economics, religion, gender studies, and history. 

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Over the years I have also taught a collection of traditional history survey courses including World History since 1500; Africa to 1800; Africa since 1800; The Middle East to 1800 and the Middle East Since 1800, as well as a more unique regional survey course on The Indian Ocean World and a study abroad course in Zanzibar on East Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. 

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I've instructed a number of upper-division seminars on several topics related to Africa and the Middle East including: Religion and Politics in Modern Africa; Revolution in the Modern Middle East; the History of Inter-Religious Relations in the Middle East; the Syrian Conflict; and an integrative core class on Human Rights and Humanitarianism in Africa and the Middle East. Beyond traditional seminars I've also led the two parts of the senior capstone at Regis: Part I on Theory and Methods and Part II the Senior Thesis. 

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Interested in studying History at Regis University? Shoot Dr. Sanders and email! esanders@regis.edu