I think teaching and mentoring occur in and outside the classroom. In the classroom, I primarily teach students statistical reasoning and research design. My primary goal in this context is to help students evaluate the many truth claims about politics and the world that they’ll encounter in their careers and lives. Outside of the classroom, I strive to be an approachable, encouraging, and emotionally supportive educator. My primary goal in this context is to provide students with the support necessary to achieve their academic and professional goals. I’ve brought these two parts of teaching and mentorship together in my role as a co-directer of a foreign studies program (FSP) in the Baltics designed to increase intercultural experiences and promote positive intergroup contact.
Teaching at Dartmouth
Statistical reasoning
I teach two classes at Dartmouth that promote statistical reasoning: Quantitative Political Analysis and Experiments in Politics. In Quantitative Political Analysis, I teach students the basics of computational social science, with their work culminating in a quantitative-focused research paper. In Experiments in Politics, I teach students how to design, implement, analyze, and write up the results from an experiment focused on discrimination. I work with students to do this throughout the term, intending to publish the paper after the quarter ends. I’ve published two papers with students using this approach so far.
Starting from 2024-25, I am co-directing the Department of Government’s Honors Program with Professor Lucas Swaine. In this position, I help students build on their earlier methods classes, such as Quantitative Political Analysis and Experiments in Politics, and guide them in producing their own independent research. The program requires students to complete the Honors Research in Government course in the fall, to spend the winter and spring terms working on their research with their faculty advisers, and to defend their thesis in a public presentation at the end of the year.
Intercultural experiences
In line with some of my work on discrimination, I believe intergroup contact can reduce negative biases. I strongly advocate for students pursuing intercultural experiences for this and other reasons.
I co-founded and have twice co-directed Dartmouth’s Baltic LEAP (language, energy, and politics) foreign studies program (FSP). This quarter-length program takes students through the three Baltic countries, with students spending about four weeks in Vilnius, two weeks in Riga, and another four weeks in Tartu. In addition to these locations, I and other faculty take the students on day or weekend trips to Jūrmala, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Daugavpils, Narva, Sillamäe, and Tallinn. They complete a full course load while participating in various excursions (e.g., over 20 field trips in the 24-25 academic year; 📷 from our trips). The Guarini Institute of International Education has lauded this FSP as “innovative” and “cutting edge.”
As part of this program, I teach Baltic Politics, a course that explores the region through topics related to democracy. The course incorporates local voices and features guest lectures from nearby academics, diplomatic staff (including ambassadors), journalists, and policy professionals. It’s one of only two classes on the politics of the Baltics offered by universities in the United States.
While Dartmouth does not collect course evaluations for courses offered in FSPs or about FSPs, students have provided extensive positive feedback about the overall program. They have called it “truly life-changing!” “by far the most unique experience you will have,” and “honestly … one of the best experiences of my life.”
In a survey conducted three months after the inaugural FSP, students indicated their participation in the program (1) influenced their understanding of their own cultural identity and biases, (2) made them take a more global view of things, and (3) helped them better connect with different types of people.
Dartmouth evaluations
My top-line evaluations (mean) for these classes are provided below. At Dartmouth, scores closer to 1 indicate better evaluations; I’ve reverse-coded my scores for interpretability. Click on each course title to see select student evaluations when available. I’ve included some illustrative ones below.
Dartmouth teaching evaluations
Name
Quarter
Year
Course quality
Teaching effectiveness
Select Dartmouth evaluation written comments
I have nothing but the absolute best things to say about Charles Crabtree. One of my favorite professors I have had on this campus and made class so fun while also challenging.
Professor Crabtree was the best professor I have had at Dartmouth. He was down to earth, helpful, and genuinely cared about his students. He was always willing to meet with us and genuinely wanted to get to know us. He met with my research group multiple times throughout the term (even when he was very busy he always made time for us). Additionally, he responded to emails very quickly which helped answer any questions we had if we were unavailable to meet. Also, his lectures were engaging and he made me want to learn more. He was inspiring and furthered my knowledge in statistics.
This was a fantastic class! It’s hard to shout out specific things that were most effective, because the entire class was very effective. Professor Crabtree was a great lecturer, and the class was really well structured with group problem sets, individual readings, and our research project, which was a great way to apply our learning to an interesting, real-world topic. Professor Crabtree also wrote really good exams (they made me think so deeply about the course material).
Prof. Crabtree is one of the most empathetic professors I've ever met, and this makes him a great teacher who prioritizes students' growth.
Professor Crabtree is very engaging and energetic. He is very supportive and makes himself frequently accessible to students. He is a kind person and wants to make a positive impact.
prof crabtree is one of the best professors i have had in my time at dartmouth. he is incredibly supportive, explains statistical concepts very well, and is also excellent at demonstrating why statistical analysis matters to a group of people who was mostly only in the class to fulfill a prereq or distributive. i never expected to have a good time in this class, but it ended up being actually pretty enjoyable and i learned a lot.
The professor is one of the kindest most understanding people, and as such engagement in the class was incredibly high. We were able to think of great ideas and felt supported in the environment.
Amazing teaching and good class structure.
Professor Crabtree is by far the best professor I have had at Dartmouth.
Teaching at other colleges and universities
I've been fortunate to teach various courses and workshops about experiments and measurement to students across universities and levels. For example, at the graduate student level, I’ve taught multiple workshops on experiments at Waseda University. I’ve also co-taught two classes on Computational Text Analysis for Legal Practice at the University of Virginia School of Law with Kevin Cope.
In addition, I've taught many short, informal methods workshops at universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. According to the surveys I’ve administered at the end of these workshops, attendees have found them very helpful, with 80% indicating that they were more helpful than other similar workshops.👇
Workshop evaluationsStudent song recommendations
In every syllabus, I ask students to show that they’ve read it by sharing their favorite song. Here are their picks.