CHAPEL HILL, N.C.,
Aug. 15,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's new
School of Civic Life and Leadership will welcome 11 new faculty to
the Carolina community this upcoming academic year.
With Jed Atkins, a nationally
recognized leader in civic education at the helm, the school aims
to lead the nation in providing a student experience that fosters
intellectual curiosity and reflection on civic life in our present
polarized political climate.
"UNC-Chapel Hill is ideally
positioned to provide a civic education that equips students to
flourish in a pluralistic democracy," said Atkins. "Our faculty are
committed to cultivating a free-speech culture inside and outside
the classroom. Our curriculum will provide a rigorous, holistic
education that encourages the human search for meaning and helps
students develop the capacities for civil discourse and wise
decision-making."
The nationally recognized faculty will help students consider
the constant questions of human and civic flourishing and cultivate
respectful dialogue and informed decision-making skills. They will
also encourage exploring civic engagement and public discourse
beyond the classroom. This group of new Carolina faculty represents
a diverse range of disciplines and specializations; however, it is
particularly strong in political theory.
"I am extremely excited about the high caliber of faculty who
are coming to join the School of Civic Life and Leadership.
Attracting a team like this so quickly and outside the normal
hiring cycle affirms both the vision for this school and its
leadership," said Carolina Provost Chris Clemens. "These new
faculty are impressive teachers and scholars who will inspire our
students in the classroom and enrich our community of
scholars."
The new faculty includes:
Danielle Charette is an assistant
professor who studies the history of political economy, slavery,
and economic thought. She focuses her research on political theory
and the emergence of political economy during the Scottish
Enlightenment, especially in the work of David Hume. At the University of Virginia, she served as associate
director of the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy.
Charette earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago.
Flynn Cratty is a professor of
the practice and historian of early modern Europe, including French and British history.
His interests include the development of secularism; academic
freedom of expression; religion; cultural history; intellectual
history; the Reformation; and the Enlightenment. He was the
founding executive director of Harvard
University's Council on Academic Freedom and served as
associate director of the Human Flourishing Project. Cratty
received a doctorate from Yale
University.
David Decosimo is an associate
professor specializing in ethics, religion and politics. His
research explores Christian and Islamic political thought and
ethics, especially on liberty; religion and politics; and academic
freedom. At Boston University, he
directed the Institute for Philosophy and Religion and
was chair of the university's Academic Freedom Committee. He is the
author of "Ethics as a Work of Charity: Thomas Aquinas and Pagan
Virtues." Decosimo earned a doctorate from Princeton University.
Connor Grubaugh is an
intellectual historian and political theorist whose research
centers on hope in the history of liberal political thought from
Locke to Rawls. He will begin his appointment as an assistant
professor in SCiLL on July 1, 2025,
after a 1-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Kenan Institute of
Ethics at Duke University. He obtained
a doctorate from Oxford University.
Melody Grubaugh is an adjunct
assistant professor and a political scientist whose work focuses on
constitutional studies, political theory and politics and
literature. In addition to her teaching experience, she previously
served as a senior reader at the Canterbury Institute in
Oxford. She earned a doctorate from the
University of Notre Dame.
Michael Hawley is an assistant
professor who is an expert in Catholic and Islamic political
thought; political rhetoric; and contemporary just war theory.
During his time at the University of
Houston, his research examined classical and modern
republicanism and liberalism. He is the author of "Natural Law
Republicanism: Cicero's Liberal
Legacy." Hawley earned a doctorate from Duke
University.
Rita Koganzon is an associate
professor who works in the history of political thought. Her
research focuses on civic and childhood education and the family's
role in historical and contemporary political thought. At the
University of Houston, she was
associate director of the Tocqueville Forum on American Ideas and
Institutions. She is the author of "Liberal States, Authoritarian
Families: Childhood and Education in Early Modern Thought."
Koganzon obtained a doctorate from Harvard
University.
Jose Maria Andres Porras is an
assistant professor with extensive knowledge of the
intellectual, cultural and social history of Western Europe in the late Middle Ages. At the
University of Oxford, he focused his
research efforts on how natural philosophy, medicine, theology and
political thought shaped conceptions of human personhood and
society. Porras received a doctorate from Oxford University.
John Rose is a professor of
practice who is a nationally known expert on teaching civil
discourse. He will also direct the Morehead-Cain Scholarship
Foundation's Dialogue and Discourse Program. At Duke University, he served as the associate
director of The Civil Discourse Project. His course "How to Think
in An Age of Political Polarization" has helped hundreds of
students learn to disagree better and has inspired similar courses
at 70 colleges and universities across the country. His
public-facing publications include "How I Liberated My College
Classroom." Rose received a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Dustin Sebell is a professor and
a leading expert on classical political philosophy. His recent work
focuses on religion and science in modern political philosophy.
At Michigan State University, he
served as director of the LeFrak Forum on Science, Reason, and
Modern Democracy. His most recent book is "Xenophon's Socratic
Education: Reason, Religion, and the Limits of Politics." He
obtained a doctorate from Boston
College.
Lauren Brown Sebell is an adjunct
assistant professor and a political scientist whose interests
include ancient and modern political philosophy; French political
thought; and constitutional law and jurisprudence. Her previous
role was at Michigan State University.
She earned a doctorate from the University of
Texas at Austin.
These faculty will be joined by two new adjunct associate
professors who hold primary appointments in other academic units at
Carolina including: Li-ling Hsiao, associate professor in the
Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and
Michael Morgan, associate professor
of History. Hsiao is a leading scholar of Chinese literature, music
and art. Morgan is an expert in the Cold War, international history
and grand strategy.
Inger Brodey, professor of
English and comparative literature will serve as associate dean for
Faculty Development and Curriculum, and Decosimo will serve as
associate dean for Research and Strategy. Each brings a wealth of
administrative experience to back their robust commitments to
cultivating the culture or free inquiry needed to provide a
first-rate civic education to Carolina students.
A new SCiLL Visiting Scholars Series will bring leading scholars
and practitioners of civic life, thought and leadership to campus
for multi-day visits. The first confirmed visiting scholar is
Angel Adams Parham, associate
professor of sociology, a senior fellow at the Institute of
Advanced Studies in Culture at the University
of Virginia and co-founder and executive director of Nyansa
Classical Community.
Launched last fall with the appointment of
nine inaugural faculty, the school fosters a culture of
reflection and intellectual curiosity that helps our democracy
thrive. The faculty began articulating a vision for the
school and designed the curriculum for SCiLL's minor in
civic life and leadership, which is set to launch in the fall
semester. The interdisciplinary minor is designed to appeal to
students of all majors, providing them with interdisciplinary
training in civics, the humanities and scientific
literacy. Additional initiatives including enhancing the Abbey
Speaker Series are in development to expand a culture of reflection
on civic life and intellectual curiosity on campus ahead of the
upcoming election.
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SOURCE University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill Office of Communications