Joshua J. Mason

Hi there! My name is Josh. I received my BA in political science with honors from UC Merced in 2016, staffed a member of Congress for 2 years, and enrolled in a PhD program in sociology at UC Davis in 2018. I've been a teacher's assistant since 2014 and have helped conduct over 20 college courses since then. I have extensive experience with both grading and instructing college and high school students in virtual and in-person settings in comparative, historical, and general literary analysis/argumentative writing, as well as US history and English. On a personal level, I am a first generation college student who found a passion for education through mentorships with a small handful of teachers who went above and beyond to help cultivate my writing and research abilities. Because of this, I approach every interaction with students as if they could potentially benefit to such a degree if I also go above and beyond for them in our time together. I've always said that the best instructors I've had in the past weren't the type to simply give answers and expect students to regurgitate them on test day. Rather, they posed questions that made students question their assumptions, exposed grey areas in subject matter, and helped students understand that there is often more than one "right" answer in many situations. I believe those instructors are the kind who help make more high quality critical thinkers in the world, and I do everything I can to mirror such approaches.