Teaching

Teaching Awards

Graduate School Excellence in Teaching Award (Nominee), 2019
Outstanding Independent Instructor, Political Science, 2019
Purdue Teaching Academy Graduate Teaching Award, 2018 and 2019
Outstanding Independent Instructor (runner-up), Political Science, 2015 and 2016

POL 430

"Elis is incredibly interactive and encouraging of students to get involved. He is excellent at communication and does a strong job of presenting material in a easily accessible and learnable manner. I’ve learned a lot over the maymester and will certainly apply this to my career."
"He is very responsive and helpful. I can email him questions I need clarification on and he goes above and beyond when answering."
"Vllasi was very receptive to how the class was flowing and what portions needed more attention so that the materials could be effectively covered. His response to any questions or concerns I had were incredibly fast and helpful."
"I wish I would have had the foresight to take this class during a regular semester with Elis. I would have loved to have spent a few more months analyzing the cases that were given to us. His maymester module was very well organized and expectations were made very clear."
"Vllasi really goes out of his way to make the course an enjoyable experience. He tries to help as much as he can when it comes to clarifying doubts, and really strives for integration within the class. I would really enjoy taking another class with him as a professor."

POL 235

"The instructor cares a lot about each students' success in the course. He is very straightforward with course expectations and is great with getting participation from many people in the class. He is respectful of students' opinions."
"Makes the topics we are covering very interesting by using humor and relevant information that often times was a contradiction to popular belief. Never seemed to have an predetermined opinion on the topics we covered and told the story off all actors. Has opened my eyes to how the world really works and I am very glad I took this course. "
"Instructor Vllasi is great at stimulating interest and presenting new view points to the class, he also has an approachability and sense of humor that lighten the subject matter's density."
"This was one of my favorite courses taken at Purdue, the content was stimulating and you made it very interesting."

POL 223

"After taking some time to reflect on today’s class and the discussion that we had about gender inequality, I wanted to thank you for how well you communicated the issue and acknowledged and validated the feelings that I and many other women have. As someone who has not seen many instances of female empowerment from various male figures, it was very moving for me to hear that there were men who are looking to not only realize their privilege but are also trying to combat the disparities that are extremely prevalent in our society today. At times, I was almost brought to tears by the touching words that you said about women and the struggles that they faced societally and systemically. Additionally, I would like to also thank you for teaching a very moving and informational course in such an enjoyable way. I will take the knowledge that you have communicated with us on the environment and other pertinent social issues with me throughout my time at Purdue."

POL 130

"He has us read current articles related to IR, and watch movies and shows on IR topics and discuss them with the knowledge we have about IR. I think this is a very good approach to firsthand understand and apply the theories we learned about IR through our textbook and the slides."
"We were challenged to think critically, discuss openly, and work hard to understand the material. I am thankful for this."
"He is also one of the most well spoken instructors I have ever had, and I enjoyed listening to our lectures. "
"Mr. Vllasi does a great job of involving the entire class in his lectures/discussions which allows students to be engaged and not just sit in their chair unfocused."
"I love that he makes connections back to pop culture and things we all definitely know about, and doesn't just deliver a bland retelling of history."
"Very passionate about the topic at hand. He really knows what he was talking about and demonstrated that really well in class."

Raphael, "The School of Athens"