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Political Theory Institute
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States
Founding Director
Director of Special Programs
Thomas Merrill Associate Professor SPA | Government
Thomas Merrill is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. He is the author of Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment (Cambridge, 2015), which won the Delba Winthrop Prize for Best Rece…
Core Faculty
Gail Borden Flanagan Assistant Professor SPA | Government
On research leave at the University of Toronto for the academic year 2014-2015.
Borden Flanagan’s area of expertise is the history of Western political philosophy. His teaching and r…
Craig French Professorial Lecturer SPA | Government
Craig French is a professorial lecturer in the Department of Government at American University, where he teaches classes in political theory. His teaching and research interests include political real…
Hansong Li Assistant Professor SIS | Global Inquiry
Hansong Li is a humanist and social scientist who writes on international law and politics, ethics and economics, and the history of political, economic, and legal thought. Li has written on the norma…
Christopher Utter Professorial Lecturer SPA | Government
Christopher Utter is a professorial lecturer in the Department of Government in the School of Public Affairs at American University. He has taught courses in the history of political philosophy, class…
Faculty Associates
Karen Baehler Scholar in Residence SPA | Public Administration
Karen Baehler's teaching and research focuses on the craft of policy analysis and the intersection between public policy and public administration, with applications to the social and environmental po…
Daniel Dreisbach Professor SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology
Professor Dreisbach earned a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia. His principal research…
David Fagelson Associate Professor SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology
Professor Fagelson's research interests include ethical issues in law, politics and international relations as well as jurisprudence and and political theory.
He has published one book on …
Laura Field Adjunct In Residence SIS | General Academics & Research
I taught at AU from 2014-2018 and am currently a Scholar in Residence in SIS.
Seth Gershenson Professor SPA | Public Administration
Seth Gershenson holds a PhD from Michigan State University in Economics with a primary focus on education policy. While at Michigan State, he taught several courses and received an Outstanding Teachin…
Marianne Noble Professor CAS | Literature
Professor Noble's teaching and research interests include American literature, intimacy and the emotions, and philosophical approaches to literature. She is the author of Rethinking Sympathy and H…
Jin Y Park Professor and Department Chair, Philosophy & Religion CAS | Philosophy/Religion
Jin Y. Park is a Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy and Religion at American University. She also served as the Founding Director of the Asian Studies Program from 2013 to 2020. Park special…
Jeffrey Reiman Prof Emeritus
Please contact at jreiman@american.edu.Jeffrey Reiman is the William Fraser McDowell Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Social Policy. He was born in Brookl…
Anita Sherman Professor CAS | Literature
Anita Gilman Sherman studies 16th and 17th century literature, specializing in works that have problems of knowledge and interpretation at their thematic center. Her book, Skepticism and Memory in Sha…
Paul Wapner Prof Emeritus
Professor Paul Wapner’s research focuses on global environmental politics, environmental thought, transnational environmental activism, and environmental ethics. He is particularly concerned with unde…