Aaron Herold

Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Fraser 107b
585-245-5460
herold@geneseo.edu

Aaron Herold is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, coordinator of Legal Studies, and co-director of the Forum on Constitutionalism and Democracy. He teaches courses on political theory, constitutional law, and judicial politics. His research focuses on the American constitutional tradition, the political philosophy of the liberal Enlightenment, and the thought of Alexis de Tocqueville鈥攅specially as these pertain to questions about the public role of religion and the separation of church and state. His first book, , was published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 2021.  His work has also appeared in The American Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, The Review of Politics, Perspectives on Political Science, and several edited volumes. Prior to coming to 黑料传送门, he taught at Boston College, Rhodes College, the University of Richmond, and the College of the Holy Cross. He has a B.A. from Emory University, an M.A. from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Herold spent the 2023-24 academic year as a in the Department of Politics and the at Princeton University, where he began work on his second book. This book examines the work of Tocqueville, Montesquieu, and Burke in an effort to understand the current ascendancy of revolutionary thinking: the idea that social and political arrangements should be evaluated, reformed, and perhaps even remade from whole cloth, without regard for existing customs and institutions. It is tentatively entitled Revolutionary Thinking: Populism, Imperialism, and the Trajectory of Modern Democracy.

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Aaron Herold

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

  • 鈥淪tatesmanship in Modern Times.鈥 Perspectives on Political Science 50:4 (2022).

  • The Democratic Soul: Spinoza, Tocqueville, and Enlightenment Theology (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021).

  • 鈥淎 Liberation From Fear: Benedict de Spinoza on Religion, Philosophy, and Mortality.鈥 In Political Philosophies of Aging, Dying, and Death, ed. Erin Dolgoy, Bruce Peabody, and Kimberly Hurd Hale (Routledge, 2021).

  • "Tocqueville on Religion and Democratic Character: Equality, Mediocrity, and Greatness." In Civil Religion in Modern Political Philosophy, ed. Steven Frankel and Martin D. Yaffe (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2020).

  • 鈥淭ocqueville on Religion, the Enlightenment, and the Democratic Soul,鈥 American Political Science Review 109:3 (August 2015).

  • 鈥淪pinoza鈥檚 Liberal Republicanism and the Challenge of Revealed Religion,鈥 Political Research Quarterly 67:2 (June 2014), 239-252.

  • 鈥溾楾he Chief Characteristical Mark of the True Church鈥: John Locke鈥檚 Theology of Toleration and His Case for Civil Religion,鈥 The Review of Politics 76:2 (Spring 2014), 195-221.

Classes

  • PLSC 436: The American Founders

    An examination of the political and constitutional thought of four of the principal American founders: Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and Hamilton. Such issues as liberty, consent, union, federalism, basic rights and separation of powers will be explored.

  • WRTG 105: Wrtg: The Just Society

    This course lays the foundation for students to participate insightfully in both written and oral academic conversations. The course focuses on three modes of written and oral communication: communication as an ongoing persuasive dialogue with multiple audiences, communication with a reflective self, and communication with a dynamic evolving text. The course also introduces elements of information literacy and critical thinking needed to develop and evaluate academic conversation. Writing Seminar is typically taken by new students in their first two semesters, often as the introduction to general education, to our library, and to academic support services as sites of collaboration rather than remediation. As many new students' only seminar-style class, Writing Seminar can help lay the foundations of not only academic but also social success.

Office Hours

Monday 11:30-1:00, Wednesday 2:00-3:30, and by appointment (FRASER 107B)