Hello! I am a professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University, where I write and teach about the history of political ideas. My work explores how our habits, feelings, and social routines shape our political lives and either support or undermine social institutions. I draw on the insights of historical thinkers to understand today's most pressing challenges.

My dissertation, Vivacity of Our Ideas: Habit in Modern Political Thought, is the first full-length analysis of habit as an essentially contested concept in the history of political thought. In it, I contend that by giving a shared and material rhythm to otherwise individually-felt sentiments, habit constitutes the basis for both collective and transformative action. In a more critical vein, I argue that the inattention to habit as a domain of collective action by postwar Anglophone political theory has meant an avoidance of the problem of political agency in a world of tradition, custom, and repetition. This project engages a set of thinkers—David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and Herbert Marcuse—who understood the contest over the meaning and significance of habit to be a contest over the terms of social transformation. What’s missing in our understanding of these thinkers is the regard they held for habit as a resource for collective attachment and political change: they not only provide arguments for how to act morally but understand habit as the central dimension of moral and political life.

My goal as an educator is to enable students to think critically about the world around them. In my courses, we engage with foundational texts to ask pointed questions about power, community, right, and freedom. I’ve taught a wide range of classes, including Democratic Theory, Political Violence, Congressional Politics, Foundations of Modern Political Theory, and American Political Thought.

When I am not teaching or writing, I serve as an active member of the academic community. Until recently, I worked as an assistant editor for Political Theory, and I’ve served on several committees for national political science organizations. Prior to my academic work, I received my B.A. with honors from Amherst College and spent time in Hangzhou, China, as a private consultant.

Please get in touch at [email protected]. My CV is available below.