Courses for the public
“Understanding the U.S. Government,” a 24-lecture series written by Professor Victor and produced by The Great Courses.
Election Postmortem Lecture, Nov. 7, 2024 — SLIDE DECK — VIDEO
Undergraduate Courses
Introduction to American Politics
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2023)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2022)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2021)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Spring 2021)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2020)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2018)
Syllabus (GOV 103, GMU, Fall 2017)
Class Activity – Marbury v. Madison
Political Networks
Syllabus (GOV 400, GMU, Spring 2024)
Syllabus (GOV 400, GMU, Spring 2019)
Syllabus (GOV 319, GMU, Spring 2017)
Class activity: flocking
Class activity: contagion
Election Analysis
Syllabus (GOV 319, GMU, Spring 2024)
Syllabus (GOV 319, GMU, Spring 2023)
Legislative Behavior or Process
Syllabus (GOV 307, GMU, Fall 2016)
Interest Group Politics
Syllabus (GOV 318, GMU, Spring 2013)
Social Science Research Methods
Syllabus (GOV 300, Spring 2018)
Syllabus (GOV 300, Fall 2018)
Seminar in Political Polarization/U.S. Democracy in Crisis
Syllabus (GOV 490, GMU, Spring 2022, “U.S. Democracy in Crisis”)
Syllabus (GOV 490, GMU, Spring 2020, “U.S. Partisan Polarization”)
Perspectives on the 2020 Election
Syllabus (GOV 319, GMU, Fall 2020)
Democracy Lab — a Schar School Living Learning Community
Syllabi: Fall 2023, Spring 2024
Syllabi:Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Hidden Curriculum (Fall 2022)
Graduate Courses (Ph.D.-level)
Scientific Method and Research Design
Syllabus (GOV 500, GMU, Spring 2020)
American Politics Core Pro-Seminar
Syllabus (GOV 510, GMU, Spring 2023)
Syllabus (GOV 510, GMU, Spring 2022)
Syllabus(GOV 510, GMU, Spring 2021)
Syllabus (GOV 510, GMU, Spring 2015)
Legislative Behavior or Process
Syllabus (GOV 604, GMU, Spring 2019)
Syllabus (GOV 604, GMU, Spring 2014)
American Political Behavior
Syllabus (POGO 841, GMU, Fall 2021)
Interest Group Politics
Syllabus (PS 2270, U. Pitt, Spring 2007)
Resources for Students
Instructions for students seeking letters of recommendation from me
APSA Citation Style
Study Tips from memory experts
Prof. Victor’s Writing Tips
Financial Advice for Students
Teaching Portfolio
Submitted for George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award, 2019
Public Presentations (select)
LWV Electoral College Talk “The Calculus of US Presidential Elections.” Talk presented June 2024 in Springfield, VA for the League of Women Voters.
Campaign Finance April 2024, Talk presented to a graduate class at Marquette University, taught by Julia Azari.
“Why are we like this?“, sample class, George Mason University, March 2023.
“Food4Thought: Biden’s First 100 days”, presented at Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, VA, June 2021.
“Elections and Voting in America”, Presented at Annandale Public Library, October 2021.
2020 Election not-quite-postmortem, slide deck November 5, 2020 10:30am
“How did face masks become a partisan symbol? And other questions you didn’t learn in school.” Talk presented to the Alexandria Public Library Speaker Series, Wednesday, August 5, 2020, 3pm.
Videos (select)
“The Political Implications of Covid-19,” lecture for Covid-19 and the Mason Impact, July 7, 2020 (UNIV391), July 7, 2020
Graduation Video for students in GOVT 490 in spring 2020 (original version)(Updated version, with more authors)
Graduation Video for students in GOVT 500 in spring 2020
Course Offerings Matrix
| Fall 2024 | Spring 2024 | Fall 2023 | Spring 2023 | Fall 2022 | Spring 2022 | Fall 2021 | Spring 2021 | Fall 2020 | Spring 2020 | Spring 2019 | Fall 2018 | Spring 2018 | Fall 2017 | Spring 2017 | Fall 2016 | |
| GOV 103 | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |||||||
| GOV 307 | X | |||||||||||||||
| GOV 300 | X | X | ||||||||||||||
| PolNet | X | X | X | |||||||||||||
| GOV 490 | X | X | X | |||||||||||||
| Elections | X | X | X | X | ||||||||||||
| GOV 500 | X | |||||||||||||||
| GOV 510 | X | X | X | |||||||||||||
| GOV 604 | X | |||||||||||||||
| POGO 841 |