My goal in teaching is that every student will learn how to study, how to write, and how to be confident critical thinkers. In addition they should leave my classroom with a better grasp of anthropology in general, and broader sense of cultural interest and tolerance. Though it is crucial to prepare, prepare, prepare, it is also important to adapt.  I like to engage students with current topics and encourage them to voice their opinions.  I hope students understand and use anthropological methods in whatever field they choose. I hope they leave the course with a new understanding and sensitivity towards their own society, and towards more distant cultures.  Although my research is important to me, I enjoy interacting with students.  Every time I teach a course, I learn something new from my students that can inspire my research.  My courses are often a delicate balance between trying to make the complicated simple, and yet also push my students to think more, write more, explore more than they thought they could. My long-term goals include to give students a broad liberal education that encourages “culturally relativism” in order to look at cultural differences with an open mind. My future teaching plans include designing and teaching a broader range of courses, obtain some grants to connect research to teaching, and create a community learning (interdepartmental) course or working on an interdisciplinary course. I have applied for an Open Educational Resources Fellowship (OER) to replace the required textbook for ANTH 1101 with open educational resources.