A.B Harvard University
M.A. University of California, Berkeley

Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley

Courses:

Social Contract Theory

Religion in Modern Political Thought

Origins of Liberal Political Thought

Recent Publications:

"Freedom of Speech and Philosophical Citizenship in Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise," Law, Culture, and the Humanities (forthcoming)

Research Interests:

History of Political Theory

Early Modern Philosophy and Political Theory

Jewish Political Thought

Aesthetics and Politics

Contemporary Critical Theory

Current Research Projects:

My research explores the bearing of early modern political theory on contemporary democratic thought and practice.  I am working on a book manuscript entitled Modesty and Dignity in Modern Political Theory.  The book will trace the emergence of distinctively modern ideas of individuality.  I use debates about the respective merits of modesty and dignity as a lens through which to examine the waning of religious models of subjectivity, and the rise of modern individualism.  I am particularly interested in the prominent role that seventeenth century theorists (like Hobbes and Spinoza) reserve for the critique of vainglory.  By exposing the extent to which modern ideals of individualism are articulated through critiques of pride, and endorsements of modesty, I hope to challenge dominant histories of political theory.