Lecture Slides Gallery

For lecture slides, I prefer a minimalist style with limited text and an emphasis on visual elements. I avoid the traditional approach of PowerPoint slides covered in text and bullet points, as there is too much research demonstrating that people cannot listen and read effectively at the same time. Limited text, and appropriately chosen visuals with core design principles in mind are more effective at creating emotional impact as a vehicle for knowledge transfer, and work well for my inquiry-based teaching methodology. My visual style also evolved from a need to prepare materials relatively quickly, and to serve as visual cues for me to progress through the material. I much prefer this to depending on written notes, which I find often breaks the flow of emotional engagement with my audience.

A few samples of my lecture slides

: Title slide from a lecture given to students in Amsterdam discussing some approaches to the study of International Relations

: Amsterdam lecture on the spirit of philosophical inquiry – as a boxer and an academic, this is a favorite quote of mine

: Amsterdam lecture – discussing overlapping fields of social inquiry, and the need to look outside of your narrow subject

: Amsterdam lecture – Oxford social anthropologist Dr. Neil Carrier; my close friend and research collaborator

: Social network quantification issues presented to a business group in Helsinki

: IR theory at the Marshall Center

: Presenting deterrence concepts to German military officers

: Lecture on North Korea at the University of the German Federal Armed Forces (I still have a lot to learn about data visualization)

: Marshall Center lecture on democratization

: Parsimony vs. reductionism at the Marshall Center using the example of Darwin’s theory of evolution

: Explaining the concept of reductionism at the Marshall Center using the now famous slide on Afghanistan’s internal dynamics from a security consulting firm’s presentation to the US Military