Postdoctoral Fellows
The Thomas Jefferson Center is pleased to announce the inauguration of the Jefferson Society of Postdoctoral Fellows. Fellowships will be awarded to scholars in all areas of the liberal arts who have in the past 7 years completed doctoral dissertations on one or more of the great books and have shown a commitment to the interdisciplinary study and teaching of the great books. These fellowships, which will be renewable for a second year, will require recipients to teach one course each semester in our great books program and will allow them time to revise their dissertations for publication.
This fellowship will continue the postdoctoral fellowship program begun by the Jefferson Center’s predecessor, the Program in Western Civilization and American Institutions. In September 2008, that program brought to UT Austin its first four postdoctoral fellows, who have enriched the intellectual life of the college and taught courses in philosophy, political philosophy, and religion.
Current Fellows
John Bugbee
Dr. Bugbee chiefly researches medieval literature and theology, but also makes occasional border raids on the philosophy of science, usually under the influence of American philosopher and logician Charles Peirce. He is interested in the idea of laws of nature as it appears in all three realms. He holds a Ph.D. in medieval English literature (with a dissertation on Chaucer and Bernard of Clairvaux) and master's degrees in both English and Religious Studies, all from the University of Virginia. Current and forthcoming publication credits include articles in Medium Aevum, Mediaevalia et Humanistica, and Zygon: The Journal of Religion and Science. He is alleged by reputable sources to be at work on a second doctorate in Religious Studies.
Erik Dempsey
Dr. Dempsey (PhD, Boston College) has been a postdoctoral fellow at UT's Jefferson Center for Core Texts and Ideas since August 2008. He completed his doctorate at Boston College in June 2007. He is interested in understanding human virtue, and the proper place of politics in a well-lived human life, the different ways in which human virtue is understood in different political situations, and the ways in which human virtue may transcend any political situation. His dissertation looks at Aristotle's treatment of prudence in the Nicomachean Ethics, and Aristotle's suggestion that virtue should be understood as an end in itself. He is currently at work turning his dissertation into a book by adding chapters which consider Thomas Aquinas' interpretation of Aristotle in terms of natural law, and Marsilius of Padua's critique of Thomas.
He grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY and graduated from Hastings High School. As an undergraduate, he attended St. John's College in Annapolis, MD where he began to study the Great Books seriously. From June 2000 until August 2001, he worked for DynCorp in Chantilly, VA, doing mathematical modeling and providing other support for the GETS program. From September 2007 - May 2008, he taught in the Herbst Program for the Humanities at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Benjamin Lorch
Dr. Lorch received his Ph.D. in political theory from Boston College in August, 2008. His dissertation investigates the relation between morality and politics in the political philosophy of Socrates, as presented by the philosopher Xenophon in his Memorabilia. He grew up in Israel, and he began to study the Great Books at St. John's College, Santa Fe, where he received his B.A. His current research interests focus on religion and politics in classical political theory.
Christopher Moore
Dr. Moore, raised in Northern California, studied at Dartmouth and Minnesota. His principal teaching and research interests include Socrates, ancient literary form, origins of philosophy, democratic theory, and aesthetics. A current project focuses on the nature of persuasion and pedagogy.
Application Information
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas invites applications for two or more post-doctoral fellowships for a term of one academic year, possibly renewable for a second year. Duties for Fellows, in addition to their own scholarly research, will consist chiefly of teaching or assisting in one undergraduate course on the great books each semester. Candidates will be selected on the basis of evidence of their potential for and interest in teaching and scholarship on the great books. Recipients must have a Ph.D. and may not hold a tenured position elsewhere. The term of appointment is August 27, 2010- May 31, 2011. The stipend is $37,500. The deadline for applications is December 1, 2009. Please send one copy each of: a CV, a letter explaining research interests and plans, a statement of interest in teaching the great books in a multi-disciplinary setting, evidence of excellence in undergraduate teaching, and a research paper or other suitable evidence of scholarship. Three letters of reference, in envelopes signed over the seal, should be enclosed within the application.
All materials should be sent to:
Post-Doctoral Search, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas
1 University Station C4100
Austin, Texas 78712
Address questions to: cti@austin.utexas.edu
