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Research and Publication

In general, my research focuses on the intersection of imagination and religion with politics and the history of political thought, especially as it pertains to environmental questions, religious liberty, and to American politics and law.

I welcome inquiries regarding collaborative opportunities, book reviews, book chapters, and online publications. I have a broad range of interests and am willing to write on any number of subjects for academic and popular audiences.

Current Projects

My research agenda has been significantly upended due to job/career changes, but this was the direction I was headed in before leaving academia.

 Peer-Reviewed Articles and Chapters

“Imagination and Political Economy in Uncertain Times: G.L.S. Shackle Revisited” (with J. Robert Subrick)

“Philip Rieff and the Role of the Imagination” (book chapter)

I’m also hoping to write a few short pieces on Frank Herbert’s Dune in preparation for the release of Part 2 of the film

Reviews of the following books:

Long Term Projects:

“Gnostic Environmentalism”

This is a consideration of a gnostic tendency (in the sense first described by Eric Voegelin) in environmental politics and thought. This would expand on the tension between the moral and idyllic imagination described in my book. It would also consider gnostic tendencies in those infamously destructive of the natural non-human world. Finally, my hope is that the work would confront those who see environmentalism’s more “religious” character as inherently problematic. Instead, I argue that these more religious tendencies are perfectly compatible with human nature, but where a moral imagination is lacking that same religious tendency can become ideological and dangerous.

“Imagination and Politics”

Meant to be either an article-length or monograph-length introduction to what I mean by “imagination” and the implications for politics

“The Liturgy of Liberty”

The concept of a “liturgy,” married to a theory of imagination, Rieff’s notion of the “positive community,” and the work of Voegelin, Charles Taylor, Eliade and others affords a fruitful synthesis for Christian political thought in a world increasingly suspicious of, and hostile to, religion.

“On Courage”

Courage is one of the cardinal virtues, but as Samuel Johnson, C.S. Lewis, and others have noted: without it, the other virtues are much less likely to be lived out. But what exactly is courage from a Christian perspective? Aristotle’s classic formulation is a good starting point, but what might genuine courage “look” like? This project will likely be for a much broader audience than the scholarly works.

“The Anglican Tradition in Political Thought,”

Is there something distinctive about Anglicanism and its contribution to the history of political thought? I intend to investigate this question looking at key Anglican thinkers and texts from the reign of Henry VIII to the present day.

“Protestants and Personalism,”

While completing coursework toward the PhD at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, I learned about the fascinating work of “personalism,” and its relationship to Christianity, and especially to Catholicism. To what extent  might key Protestant traditions oppose, complement, adopt, and develop the idea of personalism, as it pertains to political thought?

Completed Projects

 

Book

Articles

Book Reviews

Web Publications 

Updated  28 June, 2023