The Association for the History of Political Thought Conference
February 27-28, 2026
Duke University
Sponsors
Theme: "Political Failure: Faction, Hyperpartisanship, and Civil War"
Our time has witnessed increasing, considerable polarization in politics. Some pundits fear a new Civil War in the U.S., while others worry about the consequences of factional politics on the stability of the regime and the consistent execution of the rule of law. Conference papers may examine the origins and causes of faction in politics, or the causes of the expansion of factionalization into civil war, through an examination of the works of the history of political thought. Papers may examine the main remedies for factions discussed by the political theorists living during contentious periods. More generally, papers may examine conflict, group formation and struggle, leadership in times of crisis, or any topic related to the dissolution of community.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Meeting of the Association for the History of Political Thought
REGISTRATION link: click HERE to register for the conference.
Duke University
Room 0014
27 and 28 February 2026
February 27
8:30-9am Breakfast
Panel #1
9-10:15
Michael Gillespie (Duke University), “When Words Lose All Their Meaning: Spinning into War”
Ryan Balot (University of Toronto), “Factionalism in the Ancient Socratic Tradition: Anger, Acquisitiveness, and the Desire for Justice”
Chair: Susan Bickford (UNC, Chapel Hill)
Panel #2
10:30-12:15pm
Rebecca Kingston (University of Toronto), “On Solon’s Law”
Dustin Sebell (UNC, Chapel Hill), “Is Peace Only a Dream … And Not Even a Beautiful One? An Introduction to Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus”
Vickie Sullivan (Tufts University), “Factional Conflict and Civil War in Dante’s Inferno”
Chair: Kevin Cherry (University of Richmond)
12:15-2:30
Lunch/Break
Panel #3
2:30-3:45
Devin Stauffer (University of Texas at Austin), “Machiavelli on the Psychological Sources of Political Instability and Conflict”
Richard Boyd (Georgetown University), “Thomas Hobbes, Moral Equality, and the Political Psychology of Conflict”
Chair: Catherine Zuckert (Notre Dame)
Panel #4
4-5:45
John T. Scott (University of California, Davis), “Hume’s Machiavellian Analysis of Partisan Conflict”
Susan Shell (Boston College), "Can the University Save us? Kant on the Lawful and Unlawful Conflict of the Faculties"
Ryan P. Hanley (Boston College), “Common Good Liberalism”
Chair: Danielle Charette (UNC, Chapel Hill)
February 28
8:30-9am Breakfast
Panel #5
9-10:45
Gianna Englert (University of Florida), “François Guizot and the Perils of Pluralism”
Aaron Herold (SUNY – Geneseo), “Defending Liberty Amidst Partisan Hatred and Social Decay: Tocqueville’s Project in The Old Regime and the Revolution”
Rita Koganzon (UNC, Chapel Hill), "War by the Book: Political Conflict in American Textbooks"
Chair: Michael Zuckert (Notre Dame and Arizona State University)
Panel #6
11-12:15pm
David Ragazzoni (University of Toronto), “The Duce Reads The Prince: Mussolini and Machiavelli on Political Leadership”
Michelle Schwarze (University of Wisconsin – Madison), “Judith Shklar on Factions, Political Exile, and War”
Chair: Alexander Kirshner (Duke University)
12:15
Lunch and adjourn
REGISTRATION
If you are planning on attending, please register for the conference by following this link.
Looking for Previous Conferences?
2024 @ The University of Texas, Austin, “Democracy and Its Pathologies”