Teaching Evaluations
I have taught 23 sections—11 undergraduate lectures and 12 graduate seminars—at the University of Georgia. The tables below report my overall evaluation scores alongside the department-wide mean on the same item. Scores reflect student responses to the following question on a 5-point scale:
“Taking into account the many qualities that contribute to good teaching, rate your professor on his/her overall effectiveness as a teacher.” 1 = Poor 2 = Below Average 3 = Average 4 = Above Average 5 = Excellent
Undergraduate Courses Student comments ↓
4.60
Powers Mean
4.48
Dept Mean
Mean overall effectiveness scores across 11 undergraduate sections, compared to the department average for the same semesters.
n = student respondents; N = courses in the department average. Bold values indicate semesters in which my score met or exceeded the department average.
Comments from Undergraduate Students
“I love Professor Powers. He has been the most impactful and influential professor in my time at UGA so far. He makes this class engaging, fun, interesting, and different than a typical lecture.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Spring 2023
“This was my favorite course I’ve taken so far, and it’s for my minor. Every week, I looked forward to coming to this class. Dr. Powers is an awesome professor. I honestly wish I was an IA major now.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Spring 2023
“Dr. Powers is amazing! He is one of my favorite professors here at UGA! He has sparked my interest in international relations and politics, and I would love to take more classes with him if he offers any.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Spring 2023
“This class was one of the most interesting, and it is mainly because of his ability to teach. I loved every single class.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2018
“Great class. Dr. Powers made me want to add an international affairs major.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2018
“Dr. Powers was very effective at explaining difficult material and always made himself available to his students. One of my favorite professors at UGA.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2018
“Dr. Powers is an excellent professor. He truly cares about the well-being of his students. I am very grateful to be in his class during these times.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Spring 2021
“Dr. Powers is well-versed on the subject and can explain concepts well. Mixed with his humor and his desire for students to get engaged in the topics of the class, the class is very enjoyable and I would take another INTL class because of my positive experience with Dr. Powers.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2019
“His lecturing ability is phenomenal, always elaborating and connecting the concepts beyond what is written on the lecture power points. His eloquent and well-versed speech about different lessons reflects his deep passion for International Relations and motivates students to go deeper and ask questions about the subject.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Spring 2021
“Dr. Powers is a great professor! He explains the content in a clear manner, which made learning the material very enjoyable, since I was able to focus on thinking about the actual concepts and their implications, rather than simply understanding them.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2021
“Dr. Powers was super kind and is very well-spoken. His class has been challenging but one I have enjoyed in the best way. Truly an amazing professor, probably the best one I have ever had!”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2021
“Very good instructor. He teaches in an interactive way that allows me to not have my cause of death be ‘death by powerpoint’ because of the incorporation of activities and discussions.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2018
“I loved Dr. Powers’ way of teaching and how engaging and responsive he was. It was one of the best classes I’ve taken so far, and it is the number one reason that I added an International Affairs major.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2025
“Overall, this course was one of my favorites, and Dr. Powers is an incredible professor! The class was well organized, piqued my interest in international affairs, and made me want to learn more. I wouldn’t change anything about this course!”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2025
“This course was amazing and Dr. Powers was one of the best professors I have had. Expectations were clearly stated and I was never left wondering anything about this class. The content was also taught in a clear way that made the class enjoyable.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2025
“Dr. Powers did a wonderful job making this lecture-style course into more of a discussion-based one by posing discussion questions for us to work through with a partner. His lectures were extremely organized, and his class content complemented the textbook nicely.”
Intro to Int’l Relations · Fall 2025
“I thought lecturing and relation to the broader field were excellent. The course did a good job of actually relating concepts to real life research and examples, which I have found many courses here struggle to do. Overall I thought the course significantly enhanced my research skills.”
Experiments in Int’l Affairs · Spring 2025
“Dr. Powers was great. His lectures are interesting, engaging, and sometimes funny. He facilitates questions and makes you think on your own. I really enjoyed the activities in R as they let us apply what we were learning.”
Experiments in Int’l Affairs · Spring 2025
“Professor Powers was wonderful! He was friendly and encouraged good discussions. Some professors make an intimidating learning environment but this one was comfortable enough that you felt like you could answer and not be embarrassed if you were wrong.”
Experiments in Int’l Affairs · Spring 2025
“Dr. Powers was phenomenal in his explanation of the material. He speaks fast, but clearly. I can tell that he is passionate about the material…he was very knowledgeable of social experimentation.”
Experiments in Int’l Affairs · Spring 2025
“I’ve taken a course with Professor Powers before and chose to take not only one but two of his courses this semester. I truly believe he is a great instructor. I enjoy his out-of-the-box examples that students can relate to, and his genuine care for his students.”
Experiments in Int’l Affairs · Spring 2025
“I absolutely loved this class. I think that the discussion and lectures were very informative and always productive, and Dr. Powers’ ability to facilitate productive discussion is excellent. I liked the flexibility for an INTL class to talk about current events and learn the theories behind decisions currently being made.”
Int’l Political Economy · Spring 2022
“He was such an awesome professor. Truly phenomenal in presenting the class material and extremely helpful. I hope to have Mr. Powers again in the future.”
Int’l Political Economy · Spring 2022
“Dr. Powers did a great job relating the subject material to current events. We spent a great deal of time tying our lessons to the war in Ukraine which helped me better understand what was going on today and international political economy.”
Int’l Political Economy · Spring 2022
“Dr. Powers is a great professor. He always leaves room during his classes for discussions. Moreover, he always links the material to actual events which motivates me even more to understand the things he teaches. The best thing might be that he encourages his students to ask questions and to bring in their own thoughts.”
Int’l Political Economy · Spring 2022
Graduate Courses Student comments ↓
4.51
Powers Mean
4.58
Dept Mean
Mean overall effectiveness scores across 12 graduate sections, compared to the department average for the same semesters.
n = student respondents; N = courses in the department average. Bold values indicate semesters in which my score met or exceeded the department average.
Comments from Graduate Students
“This course was very conversation-based and allowed us to draw conclusions based on readings. I enjoyed this, as it was probably my favorite of the semester. Dr. Powers is an amazing professor who encourages students to think independently.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2024
“Excellent speaker able to pose challenging and thought provoking questions. Relevant readings that helped lead me to conclusions without making it too obvious. Greatly enjoyed this class and professor.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2024
“The instructor was extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter, along with international affairs in general. He was very friendly and I enjoyed going to class. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn a lot and engage with their classmates.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2024
“Dr. Powers was an extremely knowledgeable professor who provoked very interesting and intellectually stimulating discussions.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2024
“I like Dr. Powers; he has a breadth of knowledge, asks thoughtful questions, encourages us to think deeper, and even challenged some of our claims. He showed he was listening by nodding his head and engaging and getting excited about the material.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2020
“I really enjoyed Dr. Powers’ class! He made the final project approachable and exciting, as oppose to nerve wracking, and I really appreciated the topics he chose to focus on throughout the semester. A great semester!”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2020
“This has been one of the most helpful courses I have taken in graduate school. I have learned so much about experimental design from this class and feel much more comfortable designing experiments of my own. I am extremely thankful to have taken this class and feel much more prepared for comps. and developing my dissertation.”
Experiments in Int’l Relations · Spring 2023
“The main strength was the course content and instruction. I liked that we covered all the steps from theorizing an experiment to actually fielding it. Instructor is great, could not be better.”
Experiments in Int’l Relations · Fall 2024
“I really liked students leading discussions, that was helpful for our presentation skills. The readings seemed long at times but seemed also reasonable for a graduate level course.”
IR Field Seminar · Fall 2018