Other Projects

US Commission on Civil Rights: Maine Advisory Committee

In 2020, I was appointed to the Maine Advisory Committee of the US Commission on Civil Rights. The job of the advisory committees is to serve as the “eyes and ears” of the Commission in each state. During my time on the Committee, we examined the civil rights implications of the digital divide–the disparity in access to digital technology–in the field of public education. The committee investigates, hears expert testimony, and then writes a report for the Commission.

Tufts Bodin Project

For two years, I worked on the Tufts University Bodin Project, a digital humanities endeavor aimed at producing an online annotated edition of the three versions of Jean Bodin’s magnum opus. Those three versions are  Les six livres de la republique, De Republica Libri Sex, and The Six Bookes of a Commonweale, in French, Latin, and English respectively. Bodin’s work is considered by many to be the first attempt to render a comprehensive account of the concept of sovereignty, antedating and influencing Hobbes’ more famous theory. Once completed, the Bodin Project will be an invaluable resource for scholars, who have hitherto lacked any definitive way of examining the three versions in relation to each other. For more about the project, see here.

Duke Humor and Politics Workshop

In 2014, I helped to co-found the Duke Humor and Politics Workshop, with the financial support of the Duke Program in American Values and Institutions. The workshop brought together undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty from various disciplines across the university, including Political Science, English, and Philosophy. The other graduate student founders and I organized a monthly meeting around chosen materials (theoretical writings, plays, and selected clips or episodes from movies and television). For the group’s page, with more information about previous meetings and past events (e.g., lecture and seminar with Scott Dikkers, Founding Editor of The Onion), see here.

Duke Graduate Conference in Political Theory

I helped to found and organize the Duke Graduate Conference in Political Theory, with generous support from a number of Duke entities. Now an annual event, the conference brings a small number of promising graduate students to Duke for the opportunity to present their work and receive detailed feedback from a faculty member. For a sample program from a previous year, click here.