Fields of Study

• Political Thought (17th Century to Present)
• Political Action and Agency
• Liberal and Democratic Theory

About

Mika LaVaque-Manty was trained as a philosopher, but has been a political scientist for more than a decade. He is interested in political thought from the seventeenth century to today, particularly in questions regarding political action and agency, and in their explanation. His main historical research interests are in eighteenth-century continental liberals, especially Immanuel Kant. In contemporary  political theory, he focuses on liberal and democratic theory. His current projects focus on autonomy and agency in educational institutions and practices.

Education

• University of Michigan, Ph.D. (Philosophy)
• University of Southern California, B.A. (Philosophy)

Awards

• Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship, University of Michigan (2011)
• University of Michigan Press Book Award (2009)
• University Undergraduate Teaching Award, University of Michigan (2009)

Grants

• Teaching with Technology Initiative Faculty Grant, University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (2010)
• American Philosophical Society Sabbatical Fellowship (2008-2009)
• Ford Faculty Fellows, University of Michigan (2006–2007)

Presentations

• Instructor Perspective on Implementing Metacognitive Interventions in an Upper-Level Political Theory Course (Writing Research Across Boundaries, 2011)
• Some Reflections on What It Means to be a Non-normative Theorist (APSA Annual Meeting, 2009)
• Kant’s Children (Department of Germanic Studies, University of Michigan, 2009)

Courses Taught

• Modern Political Thought (graduate and undergraduate)
• Liberalism and Its Critics (graduate and undergraduate)
• Political Science Research Design (undergraduate)
• Introduction to Political Theory (undergraduate)

Selected Publications: