Robert Kirsch
-
School of Applied Professional Studies USE 220B 651 E University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85287-0604
-
Mail code: 0604Campus: Tempe
-
Robert E. Kirsch is an interdisciplinary political theorist who researches extreme organizational change. Published research in this area includes macro-level issues such as "doomsday prepping" movements in the United States, energy production, climate change denialism, and heterodox political economies of public finance. It also encompasses smaller-scale questions of building a more equitable faculty in geoscience departments and the uses and abuses of leadership development in navigating organizational change. Kirsch pulls from both "Frankfurt School" critical theory and critical institutionalism (e.g. Veblen and Mumford) for these research questions of confronting crisis.
He is an associate editor of the journal New Political Science, co-chair of the International Herbert Marcuse Society, and spent AY 2022-2023 at the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies at Universität Heidelberg.
- Ph.D. Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2012
- M.A. Political Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 2008
- B.A. Political Science, St. John's University (MN) 2004
Apocalyptic rationality in the United States
Critical Theory and Institutionalism
Heterodox Political Economy
Environmental Political Theory
Senior Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
Manuscripts
- Kirsch, R. E. & Ray, E. (in production for Spring 2025). Be Prepared: The Theory and Politics of Doomsday Prepping in the United States. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. [50% effort]
- Kirsch, R. (under contract for late 2025). Modern Monetary Theory & Marxism. London, UK: Routledge.
- Chandler, Jennifer L.S., and Kirsch, R. (2018). Critical leadership theory: Integrating transdisciplinary perspectives. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. [50% effort]
Edited Volumes
- Hines, T., Jansen, P.E., Kirsch, R.E., & Maley, T. (Eds). (2023). The Dialectics of Liberation in Dark Times. Palgrave Series in Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. [30% effort]
- Kirsch, R. (Ed.). (2020). Limits to Terrestrial Extraction. Routledge Focus Series on Environment and Sustainability. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Kirsch, R. and Surak, S. (Eds.). (2017). Marcuse in the twenty-first century: Radical politics, critical theory, and revolutionary praxis. New York, NY: Routledge. [80% effort]
Refereed Articles
- Kirsch, R.E. (accepted for 2024). Doomsday prepping as prophecy, predestination, and media spectacle. Apocalyptica 3(1).
- Trinh, M.P., Kirsch, R., Castillo, E.A., & Bates, D.E. (2022). Forging paths to interdisciplinary research for early career academics. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 21(2), 318-385. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2019.0386 [25% effort]
- Kirsch, R. (2020). Manufacturing alienation in the Bakken: Toward a political economy of extraction. Theory & Event 23(1), 231-247. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/747104.
- Posselt, J., Chen, J., Dixon, G., Jackson, J. F.L., Kirsch, R., Nuñez A., & Teppen, B. (2019). Research and theory advancing inclusion in the geosciences: An overview of the NSF-GOLD program. Journal of Geoscience Education, (67)4, 313-319. doi: 10.1080/10899995.2019.1647007. [20% effort]
- Kirsch, R. (2019). You can’t handicraft the apocalypse: The invidious consequences of “opting out.” New Political Science, 41(4), 529-543. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2019.1686740.
- Kirsch, R. (2018). Focusing on leadership to improve the geosciences. Eos, 99. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EO097357.
- Kirsch, R. (2017). Toward a theory of economic development as a mode of flash capitalism. Fast Capitalism, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.32855/fcapital.201701.011
- Kirsch, R. (2016). The “Digital Revolution” reconsidered. New Political Science, 38(1), 100-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2015.1125635.
Book Chapters
- Kirsch, R.E. (in production). Marcuse the American. In E. Altheman, J. Fast, N. Mayberry, and S. Simpson (Eds.), The Marcusean Mind. London, UK: Routledge.
- Kirsch, R.E. (2023). Is transformational leadership one-dimensional? In C.L. Lowery, M. Hess, C. Gautam, & R. White (Eds.), Educational leadership and the critical theorists: Toward a critical theory of school administration. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic Press.
- Kirsch, R.E. (2023). Reigniting racket theory: Horkheimer’s unfinished project and Marcuse’s engagement with American institutionalism. In T. Hines, P-E. Jansen, R.E. Kirsch & T. Maley (Eds.), The dialectics of liberation in dark times: Marcuse’s thought in the neoliberal era. New York, NY: Springer.
- Kirsch, R.E. (2020). Mumford and Bataille: Toward a political economy of energy consumption. In R.E. Kirsch (Ed.), Limits to Terrestrial Extraction. Routledge Focus Series on Environment and Sustainability. New York, NY: Routledge.
- Chandler, Jennifer L.S., and Kirsch, R. (2017). Addressing race and culture within a critical leadership approach. In J.L. Chin, J.E. Trimble, & J.E. Garcia (Eds.), Global and culturally diverse leaders and leadership: New dimensions and challenges for business, education and society (307-322). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited. [50% effort]
Book Reviews and Encyclopedia Entries
- Kirsch, R. E. (2023). Herbert Marcuse. In The Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Barrow, C. (Ed.). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Kirsch, R. E. (2023). Student Debt. In The Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Barrow, C. (Ed.). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Kirsch, R. (2019). Fugitive democracy: And other essays [Review of the book Fugitive democracy: And other essays by S. Wolin]. New Political Science 41(2), 372-374. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2018.1528676.
- Kirsch, R. (2017). Austro-Marxism. In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory. Turner, B.S. (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118430873.est0568.
- Kirsch, R. (2015). Capital in the twenty-first century [Review of the book Capital in the twenty-first century by T. Piketty]. New Political Science 37(1), 147-149. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2014.949442.
- Kirsch, R. (2015). Forging capitalism: Rogues, swindlers, frauds, and the rise of modern finance [Review of the book Forging capitalism: Rogues, swindlers, frauds, and the rise of modern finance by I. Klaus]. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. https://www.hnet.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=43082.
Other Publications and Non-author Contributions
- Kirsch, R.E. (accepted) Introduction to “The influence of German emigration on American intellectual life: Philosophy and sociology” by Herbert Marcuse. Trans. M.P. Dunn. Contemporary Political Theory.
- American Society for Engineering Education. (2020). Cultivating Diversity Champions: Practices and Lessons from Two NSF Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD) Projects. Washington, DC. ISBN: 978-0-87823-250-5. https://www.asee.org/documents/publications/reports/2019-Cultivating-Diversity-Champions-GOLD.pdf
- Huntington, K.W., & Klepsis, K.A. (2018). Challenges and opportunities for research in tectonics: Understanding deformation and the processes that link Earth systems, from geologic time to human time. A community vision document submitted to the U.S. National Science Foundation. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. ResearchWorks Archive: http://hdl.handle.net/1773/40754.
- Derra, S. (2017). Project aims to broaden participation in the geosciences. ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. https://asunow.asu.edu/20170329-project-aims-broaden-participation-geosciences
- Kirsch, R., & Surak, S. (2016). Introduction to the special issue. New Political Science, 38(4), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2016.1228589. [80% effort]
- Kirsch, R. (2016). Introduction to “The rationality of philosophy” by Herbert Marcuse. New Political Science, 38(4), 476-477. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2016.1228576.
- Kirsch,Robert Emmanuel. Geo Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD): Sparks for Change. (PI). NSF-GEO (10/1/2016 - 9/30/2022).
- Kirsch, Robert Emmanuel. Developing Champions of Diversity with Appreciative Inquiry and Computational Simulation (CHAMPIONS). (Co-PI). NSF GOLD-EN (07/19/2023 - 07/31/2026).
- Kirsch, Robert Emmanuel. Collaborative Research: NRT-INFEWS: Systems Training for Research ON Geography-based Coastal Food Energy Water Systems (STRONG-CFEWS). (Key Investigator sub-award). NSF Division of Graduate Education (09/01/2017 - 08/31/2024).
Courses
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 300 | Theory Practice of Leadership |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 300 | Theory Practice of Leadership |
OGL 300 | Theory Practice of Leadership |
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
2024 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 550 | Leading Organizational Change |
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
OGL 592 | Research |
2022 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
HSD 598 | Special Topics |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 592 | Research |
POS 498 | Pro-Seminar |
2021 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 350 | Diversity and Organizations |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 592 | Research |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 550 | Leading Organizational Change |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 584 | Internship |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 599 | Thesis |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
OGL 595 | Continuing Registration |
2020 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
OGL 530 | Critical Perspctv Ldshp Theory |
2019 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
OGL 300 | Theory Practice of Leadership |
INVITED LECTURES AND OTHER MEDIA
- 2023 “Doomsday Prepping as Prophecy, Predestination, and Media Spectacle.” Invited talk at the exposition, “Imaginar el Fin de los Tiempos.” Sponsored by the Museo Nacional de Antropología, the Ministry of Culture of Mexico, and the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-apocalyptic Studies. Mexico City, Dec. 15.
- 2023 Guest Lecture for the class “Death, Decay, Destruction.” Prof. Marisa Frankl. New York University, Nov. 16.
- 2023 “Hunker in Your Bunker: Doomsday Prepping in the United States.” Invited talk at the Queen Mary University London TheoryLAB. May 24.
- 2023 “Worst-Case Scenario: The Politics of Prepping in America.” Podcast guest on Quo Vadis USA? Heidelberg Center for American Studies. University of Heidelberg. Feb. 28.
- 2023 “Bunkerization in America: Preparing for the Worst-Case Scenario.” Invited lecture at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. University of Heidelberg. Feb. 9.
- 2023 “A Political History of Bunker Planet: Doomsday Prepping as Consumer Culture.” Public lecture at the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies. University of Heidelberg. Jan. 31.
- 2022 “Five theses on the bunkerization of the United States.” CAPAS. https://doi.org/10.21428/75bc60de.3488d681
- 2022 “The perils of populism: The lasting impacts of Trumpism on democracy in America.” Invited seminar given at the Department of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Koblenz, Germany.
- 2022 “The big impacts of small groups.” Invited talk to the Global Leadership Academy Lecture Series, International Student and Scholar Center, Arizona State University.
- 2019 “Confronting imbecile institutions: Populism in the United States.” Invited talk to the Center for the Study of Economic Liberty. Tempe, AZ.
- 2019 “One-dimensional algorithms: The positive irrationality of technological rationality.” Invited seminar given at the Department of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Koblenz, Germany.
- 2019 “Small groups, big change for diversity in the geosciences.” Faculty presentation to the School of Earth and Space Exploration. Tempe, AZ.
- 2018 “Broader impacts: The urgent need for critical social scientists in sponsored research.” Plenary talk given at the ASPECT annual conference. Blacksburg, VA.
- 2017 Kanban academia: Toward a post-Taylorist theory of ‘just in time’ production. Interdisciplinary Studies Works 2(2), 37-48.
- 2015 “Veblen and the Frankfurt School.” Plenary talk given at the Society of Socio-Economists annual conference. Washington, DC.
INVITED WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, AND PRESENTATIONS
- 2023 (Organizing Committee) “Apocalyptic Thinking in the Anthropocene.” 1-day workshop with Dipesh Chakrabarty, sponsored by the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies. Heidelberg, Germany, Nov. 14.
- 2023 “Doing Theory at the End of the World.” 1-day workshop on affect theory sponsored by the Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies. Heidelberg, Germany, June 29.
- 2022 “Sparks for Change Leadership in Diversity Writing Workshop.” 3-day NSF-funded workshop at the University of Colorado Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Boulder, CO. May 11-13.
- 2021 “Where to find sponsored research opportunities.” Interpretive Methods Group, American Political Science Association. Virtual.
- 2020 Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (Congressionally mandated advisory panel on NSF broadening participation policies, programs, and other related diversity activities). “Sparks for Change: Leading Diversity in the Geosciences.” Virtual.
- 2020 “Grant funding for qualitative research.” Interpretive Methods Group, American Political Science Association. Virtual.
- 2020 “Grant seeking in the social sciences.” Environmental Political Theory Group, Western Political Science Association. Virtual.
- 2019 Participant, The Dissemination of Undergraduate Research Initiatives that Supports Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences. Sponsored by NSF No. ICER #1946891. Brooklyn, NY.
- 2019 “Sparks for Change: Advancing Leadership for Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Faculty.” Half-day workshop at the Association of American Colleges and Universities Transforming STEM Higher Education annual conference. Chicago, IL.
- 2017 “Sparks for Change.” 3-day NSF-funded workshop at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Boulder, CO.
2022-2023, Fellowship with stipend, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies
2015, Christian Bay Award for best paper of the New Political Science section of the American Political Science Association annual conference.
(2023 - ) Associate Editor, New Political Science
American Political Science Association
International Herbert Marcuse Society
The Caucus for a Critical Political Science
Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies
International Leadership Association
2024 Kelly Helming, MS in Organizational Leadership. “The Leader Object: A Critical Inquiry into the Intersectionality of Virtue, Power, and Meaning in Leadership Discourse
2023 Eric Fassbender, MS in Organizational Leadership. “Exit and
Organization Studies: Escaping the Epistemic Trap.”
2022 Asmaa Khalifa, MS in Organizational Leadership. “Everyday Leadership
In Self-Organized Groups: Rising to the Occasion of Leadership in
Libya.”
Leslie Wasem, MS in Organizational Leadership. “Evaluating the
Upward Bound Program through the Opportunity Gap Explanatory
Framework.”
Benjamin Smith, MS in Organizational Leadership. “Close and Effective
Supervision: Conceptualizing the Role of Police First-Line Supervisors
in Preventing Officer Misconduct.”
2017 – Arizona State University, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Leadership and Integrative Studies (School of Applied Professional Studies as of 2023)
2015 – 2017 Arizona State University, Lecturer, Faculty of Leadership and Integrative Studies
2013 – 2015 Salisbury University (Maryland), Lecturer, Philosophy / Political Science / Environmental Studies
2023 - Academic Integrity Committee, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts
2019 – 2022 Faculty of Leadership and Integrative Studies Senate Representative, ASU Faculty Senate
2019 – 2022 College of Integrative Sciences and Arts Academic Council
2019 – 2022 Faculty of Leadership and Integrative Studies Faculty Annual Review Committee
2019 – 2022 Admissions Committee, Master of Science in Organizational Leadership
2015 - 2022 Faculty Search Committee, Faculty of Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies
2015 - 2022 College Council Co-Advisor, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts
2015 - 2022 Curriculum Committee, Faculty of Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies