the art of theory is a journal of essential political questions and candid interviews with leading scholars.

What’s different?

• Convenient short essays and interviews.
• Free articles licensed with Creative Commons for cited public use.
• Moderated discussion on every article.

Why another journal?

We were struck by how Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?” could be so provocative in so few words (around 2,600 words, actually).

We searched for a forum with similar essays for scholars and the public.

When we couldn’t find that forum, we built it.

The People

Jason Swadley, Founding Editor

Jason is a doctoral student of political theory at Brown University studying Enlightenment liberalism and the idea of self-interest. He graduated summa cum laude from Drury University and holds a master’s degree in political theory from the University of Chicago. He is adjunct faculty at Drury and teaches courses on American politics and political philosophy. He writes at jasonswadley.com

Editorial Board

Gordon Arlen

Gordon is a doctoral student in political science at the University of Chicago. Gordon holds a master’s degree from Chicago (2009) and a bachelor’s from Amherst College summa cum laude (2006). His research ranges widely in contemporary democratic theory and the history of popular government.

Teresa M. Bejan

Teresa is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Yale University and a Fox Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.  She holds degrees from the Universities of Chicago and Cambridge.  Her principal research interests lie in early modern Anglophone political and religious thought, particularly concerning issues of toleration, education, and civility.

Jonathan Bruno

Jonathan is a doctoral student in government and a law student at Harvard University. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2007. Jonathan has broad interests in the history of Western political and social thought.  His research concerns theories and practices of criminal punishment.