POLITICS. TEACHING. OTHER QUESTIONABLE INTERESTS.

Teaching / Open the question

CLASS
WORK.

The world is complicated.
The worksheet should know that.

Simulations, visual arguments, syllabi, and things to try in a room full of people. Built to make ideas do some work.

Use something. Tell me what happened.

3 resources

Comparative Politics

States, regimes, institutions, and the inconvenient business of governing.

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Learning bot

Who Gets to be We

Who Gets to Be We? — The Nationalism Exhibit What makes a nation—and who gets left out? Help repair an unfinished museum exhibit using Andreas Wimmer’s “Why Nationalism Works.” Choose evidence, compare cases, and explore how nationalism can support solidarity and equality while also producing exclusion and violence. Your reading companion helps you work through difficult passages as you develop your own interpretation. 25–35 minutes after reading.

Open learning bot
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Learning bot

The Democracy Repair Shop

The ballots are counted. What else has to work? Step into a fictional repair shop and use Kreps and Kriner’s “How AI Threatens Democracy” to diagnose problems of representation, accountability, and trust. You’ll unpack difficult passages, examine the evidence, and defend a repair—with guidance that adapts to your understanding. **Allow about 40 minutes. Keep the article open as you work.**

Open learning bot
03

Learning bot

After the Headline: The Nigeria File

Why can a state be powerful in some ways and struggle in others? Join the research desk of a fictional magazine and investigate Nigeria through evidence about oil, taxation, public services, and political power. This guided chatbot challenges you to connect the readings, question easy explanations, and build an argument that can survive a skeptical reader. Before you begin: Read all three selections in the reading packet and keep it open during the activity. Lectures are optional. Allow approximately 40 minutes after completing the readings.

Open learning bot

MUSE / AI & education

BETTER QUESTIONS.
BETTER CONVERSATIONS.

A little help getting from “I read it” to “I understand it.”

These learning bots help students read difficult texts, apply concepts, test arguments, and revise their thinking. Start with the source. Keep your judgment switched on.

Who Gets to be We

The Cooperation Lab — Multilateralism Partner

The Rivalry Brief

The Democracy Repair Shop

THE RULES HEARING

The Signal Room: January 6, Testimony & Power 40-60 minutes

Before You Begin Watch these three testimony videos before starting The Signal Room: 1. Police testimony: Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges, and Harry Dunn https://youtu.be/a8WU8MRC2M8 2. Shaye Moss’s testimony, including recorded testimony from Ruby Freeman https://youtu.be/6dn48fcHkFw 3. Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony https://www.pbs.org/video/the-january-6th-hearings-day-6-9racyj/ As you watch, note a few specific moments: what each witness personally experienced, what they learned from others, and what questions their account raises. Bring those observations to your conversation with Alex. Prefer to read? You can use the hearing transcripts instead: Police testimony: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-117hhrg45472/html/CHRG-117hhrg45472.htm Shaye Moss: https://www.gov

After the Headline: The Nigeria File

Bots open in ChatGPT or Gemini. You may need an account. For classwork, follow your course’s instructions about AI.

For educators

LET THE ROOM
FIND THE PROBLEM.

I also build activities that happen between people.

My workshops start with decisions, bargaining, uncertainty, and competing priorities. Then we use theory to make sense of what just happened.

Talk workshops