Teaching | Nathan Grau

Teaching Overview

I am an experienced instructor with a record of award-winning teaching in European History, Middle Eastern History, the Global Cold War, and Historical Research Methods. In addition to supervising two student honors theses, I have also served as the primary academic advisor for over thirty undergraduates.

Teaching Philosophy

As a scholar of global imperialism, I teach students to think critically about the historical currents that shape the contemporary world order. I have formulated three core learning objectives for every student who enters my classroom. The first is to create an inclusive and accessible environment where everyone acquires the foundational knowledge necessary to succeed in the course. Next, I work to cultivate a critical and empathetic approach to the past through experiential learning exercises, small group activities, and direct engagement with diverse historical sources. The final objective is to develop robust analytic tools and communication skills that they can take with them in the next stages of their careers.

Shared courtesy of TISS

Summary of Teaching Experience

As Instructor of Record (Co-Taught):

As Teaching Fellow:

Summary of Student Evaluations

Courses Taught at Harvard University:

Scale: 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (excellent)

** Quantitative student evaluations were cancelled in Spring 2020 due to COVID-19

Selected Qualitative Evaluations:

“Nathan was an asset throughout the course of this semester. He was consistently and constantly willing to meet in and out of class time to discuss and clarify the material, and he was incredibly responsive to emails. Concerning his instruction of the material, I could always count on his preparedness during section to expand upon and elucidate both the readings as well as lecture material. During section, he made a constant effort to obtain our feedback in order to mold his lessons to better target our concerns and weak spots in regard to the material. Throughout his lessons, he incorporated a variety of multi–media approaches, sometimes using visual and audio aids, to strengthen and deepen our understanding of the material. One specific instance that pops out to me was his introduction of examples of antique North African postcards, in order to demonstrate Edward Said's theory of Orientalism in action. Moreover, Nathan's use of timelining activities––based on a suggestion that I made in the beginning of the semester–– demonstrates just how willing he was to shift his lessons to meet our needs and learning styles. These timelining activities, which were well planned and well thought out, helped strengthen my conception of the sequence of events in the region.”

“At the beginning of each section, we would have little tutorials on how to make effective arguments, what elements of the papers were working, helpful information about citing sources, and other kind of structural things that would help us with our paper. Nate's comments on papers were always very detailed and really helpful. And he was always available to brainstorm arguments and primary sources.”

“Nathan Grau was a fantastic teacher in my course section. He had a really deep understanding of the course content. He also demonstrated that he was a very naturally gifted teacher, who was both able to relate to his students, and also guide them in understanding the course material. His feedback on my work was invaluable and his analysis of what I should improve was totally accurate. Nathan helped make History 97 an enjoyable and interesting course and helped spark my interest in history.”

“Incredibly knowledgeable and able to fluidly discuss ideas / steer the conversation of class (a very useful ability as a teacher). Created a very safe environment and was well structured with an agenda and slides, yet free enough to allow the conversation to go where it needed to. Very enjoyable to sit in class with Nathan”