Teaching - The Greatest Privilege

I strive to be a transformational educator who helps students reach the potential that they may not know they have.  I discovered my love of teaching while tutoring Introduction to International Relations and Introduction to Comparative Politics for three years as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley. This experience provided me a key pedagogical foundation that I continued to hone while teaching Global Studies and English Debate for three years at a high school in Toyama, Japan.  At Princeton, I have not only won awards for my teaching in Princeton Politics, but have also taught extensively in the Freshman Scholars’ Institute for first-generation, low-income, and non-traditional background students. As a result, I bring over 11 years of teaching at the university and high school levels; I am eager to meet students where they are, while emphasizing active, experiential learning. I believe that teaching is one of the most important and fulfilling ways I can pay forward the educational opportunities I have had.

Teaching Global Studies at Toyama Kokusai High School, Japan (2018)

Teaching first-generation students at Princeton and English learners in Japan taught me to meet students where they are. I discuss the hidden curriculum, de-mystify office hours, and proactively reach out to students with resources and opportunities.

Inclusive Teaching

Korean War Staff Ride, March 2025

I have organized battlefield staff rides across Korea, Italy, Normandy, and Gettysburg, as well as grand strategy / crisis simulations with Princeton’s Center for International Security Studies. These experiences, along with my three years teaching debate and Global Studies in Japan have given me ample experience encouraging active, experiential learning. I scaffold lessons to ensure that simultaneous discussion and engagement is the norm, while also building diverse forms of participation through online shared documents and forums.

Experiential Learning

“Exemplar Mentor” Award Ceremony (2024), from Princeton’s McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.

Award Winning Mentorship

I support students beyond the classes they have taken with me, and have worked to improve graduate teaching at Princeton by founding and hosting “Precept Pedagogy” seminars and helping to organize department trainings for students in distress.

Awards and Recognitions

  • In 2024, I was honored with Princeton Politics George Kateb Teaching Award, awarded to the best graduate teaching assistants in the department. This was based on my teaching of International Relations, American Foreign Policy, and Ways of Knowing.

    Beyond serving as a TA, I have founded and led a recurring grad student pedagogy seminar and built the first department-wide shared drive for teaching resources.

  • I co-led a student group at Princeton University called "Students of Color and Allies" with fellow graduate students Sonya Chen, Sonny Kim, and Derek Wakefield. For creating this group and for related advocacy within the Politics Department on issues of access, diversity, and inclusion, we received this award at the first annual "Best of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion" symposium held by Princeton's Office of Access, Diversity and Inclusion in 2021.

  • Recognized by graduate students for going “above and beyond” in fostering their academic, professional, and personal growth. This nomination highlights a commitment to empathetic, enthusiastic, and accessible mentorship—both through formal programs and informal support networks—demonstrating dedication to building inclusive, supportive scholarly communities.

Also nominated:

  • (2x) Princeton University-wide Teaching Award

  • K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award (AAC&U)

Courses Taught

  • International Relations

    Rikio’s Combined Section Avr: 4.93

    Dept. Avr: 4.44

  • American Foreign Policy

    Rikio’s Combined Section Avr: 4.84

    Dept. Avr: 4.15

  • International Organizations

    Rikio’s Combined Section Avr: 4.76

    Dept. Avr: 4.38

  • Ways of Knowing

    Rikio’s Section Avr: 4.8 (2024)

    Rikio’s Section Avr: 5.0 (2023)

Rikio is amazing! He was born to teach IR. He always made sure that we challenged the questions and ideas to make us better researchers and academics. He could break down really complex topics into digestible pieces and help us build our own tool box of IR analytical skills and knowledge. He would always go the extra mile for his students from review sessions to letters of recommendation to above and beyond precepts. I always look forward to his precepts and the skills and concepts I have gained from him will carry me through my other classes and career.

— Intro to IR student

The most engaging, caring, intentional and pedagogically–gifted instructor I have had so far. He was pragmatic, made us engage actively with the material and with each other, was open to questions, and always wanting us to participate. He allowed for a very good and collaborative discussion environment. I envy his resources and skills

— Intro to IR student     

Rikio was extremely engaged and connected with students from day one until the very last day. He encouraged everybody to speak, whether to the entire class or in small groups/pairs, and was always encouraging in his responses to our questions or statements. His precept would often involve activities and exercises that forced us to engage critically with the material at hand, which could be difficult but in the long run helped us learn more.

— American Foreign Policy student

Japan Exchange Teaching Programme

  • Taught Global Studies and English communication from 2017 - 2020 in Toyama, Japan.

  • Coached the English Debate Team to 2nd place overall finish in the All-Japan National Debate Tournament