PhD Recipients and Placements
Rachel Alexander
Placement: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Virginia
Degree Date: December 2019
Dissertation Title: Philosophical Foundations for Political Change: Aristotle's Inquiry into Beginnings in the Nicomachean Ethics
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
Elizabeth Amato
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Gardner-Webb University
Degree Date: December 2011
Dissertation Title: Happiness and Modernity: The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
Anthony Bartl
Placement: Associate Professor, Angelo State University
Degree Date: May 2012
Dissertation Title: The Principled Constitutionalism of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Christine Basil
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Belmont Abbey College
Degree Date: May 2017
Dissertation Title: Who Am I to Judge? Rhetoric, Passion, and Rule of Law in Aristotle's Political Thought
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
Christopher Bissex
Placement: Research Analyst at Hanover Research
Degree Date: May 2014
Dissertation Title: Institutionalizing Class Conflict: Gouverneur Morris on Mediating Class Warfare through Separation of Powers
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Steven Block
Placement: Senior Lecturer, Baylor University
Degree Date: May 2012
Dissertation Title: Rhetoric, Reason, and Belief: Aristotle and John Stuart Mill on Persuasion
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
Joshua Boucher
Placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, College of the Holy Cross
Degree Date: May 2019
Dissertation Title: Hamiltonianism: Alexander Hamilton on American Foreign Policy
Dissertation Director: Dr. W. David Clinton
Matthew Brogdon
Placement: Associate Professor, University of Texas San Antonio
Degree Date: December 2011
Dissertation Title: The Supreme Court and American Constitutionalism: Reassessing the Institutional Role of Judicial Power in the Constitutional System
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Kevin Burns
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Christendom College
Degree Date: May 2017
Dissertation Title: Progressive Constitutionalism: William Howard Taft as Chief Executive and Chief Justice
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Patrick Cain
Placement: Associate Professor and Chair, Lakehead University
Degree Date: May 2010
Dissertation Title: Family, Rights, and Community: Aristotle, Locke, and the Supreme Court
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
David Capper
Placement: Attending George Mason School of Law
Degree Date: May 2013
Dissertation Title: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Substantive Due Process: Why the Most Powerful Judge in History Isn't as Everybody Thinks He Is
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Adam Carrington
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Hillsdale College
Degree Date: May 2014
Dissertation Title: Liberty in Full: Justice Field's Cooperative Constitution of Liberty
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Jordan Cash
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), James Madison College, Michigan State University
Degree Date: May 2019
Dissertation Title: The Isolated Presidency: The Institutional Logic of Constitutional Presidential Power
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Clint Condra
Placement:Assistant Principal at Treasure Valley Classical Academy; Fruitland, Idaho
Degree Date:May 2019
Dissertation Title: Jonathan Swift on Religion and Politics: A Study of Gulliver's Travels
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Clinton
Matthew Dinan
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track) and St. John XXIII Chair in Catholic Studies, St. Thomas University, Fredericton
Degree Date: May 2012
Dissertation Title: The Other as Friend: A Platonic Reply to the Political Thought of Jacques Derrida
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
Amy Edmonds
Placement: Associate Professor, Milligan College
Degree Date: May 2010
Dissertation Title: Autonomy and Church Opposition to Authoritarianism in Latin America
Dissertation Director: Dr. Jerold Waltman
Eric Fleury
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Connecticut College
Degree Date: May 2015
Dissertation Title: A Fruitless Crown: The Logic and Limits of Foreign Policy in Revolutionist Dictatorships
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Clinton
Jerome Foss
Placement: Associate Professor, St. Vincent's College
Degree Date: May 2011
Dissertation Title: John Rawls and the Supreme Court: A Study in Continuity and Change
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Joseph Griffith
Placement:The Kings College, New York
Degree Date:May 2018
Dissertation Title:No Mere Creature of thee State": American Jurisprudence on the Right of Parents to Direct Thier Children's Education
Dissertation Director:David K. Nichols
Corrie Harris
Placement:In progress towards creating a non profit organization
Degree Date: May 2020
Dissertation Title:The Blind Guide: The Principle of Individual Autonomy
Dissertation Director:David K. Nichols
Andrew Hogue
Placement:Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and Senior Lecturer, Baylor University
Degree Date: December 2009
Dissertation Title: 1980: Reagan, Carter, and the Politics of Religion in America
Dissertation Director: Dr. Martin Medhurst
Marjorie Jeffrey
Placement: Clinical Assistant Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Lyceum Scholars Program, Clemson University
Degree Date: December 2018
Dissertation Title: The Wars of Peoples: Science, Democracy, and International Politics in the Thought of Winston Churchill
Dissertation Director: Dr. W. David Clinton
Joshua King
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), United States Military Academy, West Point
Degree Date: May 2016
Dissertation Title: Good for Self and Good for Others: Rousseau's Construction of International Politics
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Corey; Dr. David Clinton
David Little
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Morehead State University
Degree Date: May 2017
Dissertation Title: Aristotle and Kant on the Noble and the Good
Dissertation Director: Dr. Dwight Allman
Mary Mathie
Placement: Senior Lecturer, University of Texas San Antonio
Degree Date: May 2014
Dissertation Title: Aquinas on Judgment, Justice, and the Unity of Peace
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols
James Odom
Placement: Senior Policy Advisor, Texas State Senate
Degree Date: May 2017
Dissertation Title: Public Debt and the Common Good
Dissertation Director: Dr. Jerold Waltman
Deborah O'Malley
Placement: Daniel Patrick Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellow, Assumption College
Degree Date: December 2017
Dissertation Title: Religious Institutions and Associational Freedom in U.S. Supreme Court Jurisprudence
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Nathan Orlando
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Benedictine College
Degree Date: December 2019
Dissertation Title: Raymond Aron and his Dialogues in an Age of Ideologies
Dissertation Director: Dr. W. David Clinton
Thomas Pope
Placement: Associate Professor, Lee University
Degree Date: May 2011
Dissertation Title: Balancing Liberty of Contract with Police Power: A Hobbesian Approach
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
David Ramsey
Placement: Associate Professor, West Florida University
Degree Date: May 2010
Dissertation Title: The Role of the Supreme Court in Antitrust Enforcement
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Vincent Reighard
Placement: Adjunct Professor, Northwest Christian University
Degree Date: December 2014
Dissertation Title: Nietzsche as Educator
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Corey
Julianne Romanello
Placement: Adjunct Instructor, University of Tulsa
Degree Date: May 2012
Dissertation Title: Political Philosophy and the Divine Ground: Eric Voegelin on Plato
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Corey
Mark Scully
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Lee University
Degree Date: May 2014
Dissertation Title: The Path to Party Unity: Popular Presidential Leadership and Principles Consensus
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols
Stephen Sims
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Rochester Institute of Technology
Degree Date: August 2015
Dissertation Title: Justice, Prudence, and Foreign Relations in Aristotle's Political Thought
Dissertation Director: Dr. Mary Nichols; Dr. David Clinton
Nathan Warf
Placement: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Freed-Hardeman University
Degree Date: December 2016
Dissertation Title: Political Pluralism and the Common Law
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Corey
Joseph Wysocki
Placement: Associate Professor and Dean of the Honors College, Belmont Abbey College
Degree Date: May 2013
Dissertation Title: Congressional Rhetoric: Going Public and Its Effects on the Institution
Dissertation Director: Dr. David Nichols