Mark J.

Katz_________________________________________________________________Teaching_Portfolio_

Teaching Philosophy

My goal in teaching is for my students to understand history by utilizing critical thinking

within a purview of the context for which we are discussing, through both written work
and classroom discourse. This learning philosophy will challenge students to develop an
outlook on an historical topic which they may have not previously considered.

Critical thinking is an educational tool which is used to develop the students understanding
of a topic. This is particularly beneficial when studying history. Recognizing the contextual
aspects of a topic will allow my students to delineate between any preconceived notions
they may have and the reality of historical accuracy. I believe that assigning texts related to
a course from an expert on the topic will provide a baseline for which my students will use
to become factually aware of what they are studying. I will provide related materials for
weekly assignments, which may be a primary and a secondary source, to be used for
interpretation. Classroom lectures will cover topics related to these assignments, which
will provide my students an additional source to consider. These assignments will be short
writings, 400-500 words in length, which the student will analyze and interpret a question
on the matter. The following classroom time will encompass a student discussion and
debate on the assignment. This will allow my students an opportunity to demonstrate their
interpretations and further develop their critical thinking abilities. I will be assigning a
mid-term paper, 1200-1500 words in length, and a final paper, 1200-1500 words in length.
The topics of these larger assignments will be assigned in accordance with the course
which is being taught. They will allow the student to demonstrate what they have learned
throughout the semester. I expect the final paper to be much more well-formed in
comparison to the mid-term paper. I want to see how the student has progressed in their
ability to use critical thinking.

The courses I plan to teach fall under the guise of my expertise. This is American History in
the twentieth century, with a focus on political history and its relation to domestic policy.
My primary scholarship is on the history of public policy and its direct effect on a variety of
communities from an historical perspective. This includes, but is not limited to
immigration, 1920’s laissez faire and consumerism, New Deal policies, World War II and its
domestic policy, Cold War America, civil rights/equal rights (entirety of the 20th century),
Vietnam War and its domestic policy, 1970’s domestic policy, 1980’s free-market
capitalism, and 1990’s neoliberalism.

Much of my teaching philosophy is based on the experiences I knew as a college student,

which provided me with a variety of skills related to the historical scholarship.