Doctoral Dissertations – Supervised
Fr. Jeffrey Langan, Ph.D. (2001) (co-directed), “Over the Top and Down Under: A Comparison of American and Australian Commerce Clause Jurisprudence” (co-directed with Donald P. Kommers) was at Holy Cross College, now an Opus Dei Priest at Principium Institute.
Geoffrey C. Bowden, Ph.D. (2003) “The old razzmatazz: Joseph Raz and the Prospects of a Perfectionist Liberalism” is now at Savannah State University.
Heike Schotten, Ph.D. (2005) “Nietzsche’s Revolutionary Body Critique without Contempt, or, Learning to Laugh at Lack” is now at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
David Thunder, Ph.D. (2006) “Rethinking modern citizenship: towards a politics of integrity and virtue” is now at the University of Navarre in Spain.
Jarrett A. Carty, Ph.D. (2006) “Machiavelli, Luther, and the Reformation of Politics” now at Honors College of Concordia University in Canada.
Jacob W. Johnson, Ph.D. (2008) “The Enlightenment In Praxis: An Experiment in Unifying Theories of American Political Development” now works for the Democratic Party in Chicago, IL.
Brendan M. Dunn, Ph.D. (2008) “The original functional constitution: democratic means in the service of substantive ends” Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
Derek Webb, Ph.D. (2008) “Paving the Rights Infrastructure: Civic Education in the Presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt.” He went on to earn a law degree at Georgetown and is now working as a lawyer in Washington.
Sarah Houser, Ph.D. (2009) “Loving Pimlico: Patriotism in the Age of the Cosmopolis” now a Lecturer at American University.
S. Adam Seagrave, Ph.D. (2009) “Beyond Ancients and Moderns: Solving the Puzzle of Natural Justice” is now at ASU’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.
Ana Samuel, Ph.D. (2010) “Legislating Morality: Montesquieu’s Case for the Regulation of Sexual Morals”.
Matthew Holbreich, Ph.D. (2011) “Between Sovereignty and Freedom: Tocqueville and the Project of French Liberalism.” He went on to get a law degree at NYU and is now Chief of Staff at Medable.
Lori Molinari, Ph.D. (2014) “The Ancient Republics and the Mixed Regime in Montesquieu’s Political Thought”.
Matt van Hook, Ph.D. (2015) “Alexander Hamilton: A Theory of Statesmanship” is now at The United States Air Force Academy.
Joe Brutto, Ph.D., (2015) “The Many Faces of Aristotle: Neo-Aristotelianism and Contemporary 19 Political Theory” is now Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Director, Advanced Studies Program, Christenson College.
Christopher McMillion, (2016) Ph.D., “Federalism and Freedom: The Precedential and Normative Roots of the Rehnquist Court’s Federalism Revolution”.
Zachary German, Ph.D. (2017) “Spirit, Statesmanship, and the New Sciences of Politics: Montesquieu, the Federalists, and the Anti-Federalists” now at Arizona State University.
Kevin Vance, Ph.D. (2017) “American Religious Liberty Jurisprudence in Comparative Perspective”.
Catherine Sims Kuiper, Ph.D. (2017) “Through the Features of Men’s Faces”: The Political Community in Francisco Suárez and John Locke”.
Michael Polito, ABD, Constitutional Studies, at the University of Notre Dame.
Doctoral Dissertations – Committee Member
Jeremiah John, Ph.D. (2004) “The Mirror of Justice: A Plea for Mercy in Contemporary Liberal Theory” now at Southern Virginia University.
Frank Colucci, (2004) “The Jurisprudence of Justice Anthony Kennedy” now at Purdue University Northwest.
Kevin Cherry, Ph.D. (2007) “Aristotle’s First Critique: The Eleatic Stranger and the Politics” now at the University of Richmond.
John Perry, Ph.D. (2007) “Subverting the Republic: Christian Faithfulness and Civic Allegiance in John Locke’s America” now in the Theology Department, Christ Church College, Oxford University.
Jesse Covington, Ph.D. (2007) “Taken on Faith: The Concept of Religion in First Amendment Jurisprudence” now at Westmont College.
Emma Cohen de Lara, Ph.D. (2008) “The Lawgiver and the Physician: Medical Imagery in Plato’s Laws” now at Amsterdam University, Netherlands.
Jeffrey Church, Ph.D. (2008) “Divided Individualism: On the Political Individual in Hegel and Nietzsche” now at the University of Houston.
Matthew Mendham, Ph.D. (2009) “Gentleness, Severity, and the System of Rousseau: Responses to Modern Commerce and Enlightenment”.
Catherine Borck, Ph.D. (2009) “Becoming Friends in Speech and Deed: Socratic Friendship in the Platonic Dialogues” is now at the University of North Texas.
Jill Budny, Ph.D. (2009) “The Education of the Irrational in Plato’s Laws” now at Beloit College.
Nicholas Miller, Ph.D. (2010) “The Religious Roots of the First Amendment: Dissenting Protestantism and the Separation of Church and State” Now a historian at Andrews University.
Alexander Duff, Ph.D. (2010) “The Paradox of Heideggerian Politics” is now at the University of North Texas.
Ashleen Menacha Bagnulo, Ph.D. (2013) “My City Before My Soul”: Reading the Discourses on Livy as a Retelling of Augustine’s City of God” now at Texas State University.
Faisal Baluch, Ph.D. (2013) “Machiavelli on Liberty, Empire, and Necessity” now at Holy Cross College.
Rebecca McCumbers Flavin, Ph.D. (2014) “The Battle of the Unarmed Prophets: Religion and Republicanism in the Thought of Girolamo Savonarola and Niccolo Machiavelli” now a Senior Lecturer, Baylor University.
Sarah Spengeman, Ph.D. (2014) “Saint Augustine and Hannah Arendt on Love of the World: An Investigation into Arendt’s Reliance on and Refutation of Augustinian Philosophy” now at NGO, Washington, D.C.
Michelle Kundmueller, Ph.D. (2014) “Politics and the Flight from Honor: Homer and the Human Good” now at Christopher Newport University.
Ryan Anderson, Ph.D. (2014) “Neither Liberal Nor Libertarian: A Natural Law Approach to Social Justice and Economic Rights” Heritage Foundation.
Robert L’Arrivee, Ph.D. (2015) “The Roots of Islamic Political Philosophy: A Comparative Study of Al-Farabi’s Virtuous City and Political Regime” is now at Furman University.
Timothy Webster, Ph.D. (2016) “Natural Law, Religion, and the Political Common Good” is now a fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
Nathan Sawatzky, Ph.D. (2016) “Building Cities, Turning Souls: Necessity in the “City in Speech” of Plato’s Republic” (Postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.
Tae Hyun Ahn, returning to Korea.
Jakub Voboril, Ph.D. (2017) “Democratic Political Leadership and Education in Thucydides and Plato” is now at Christendom College.