Aaron Kushner
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Mail code: 0602Campus: Tempe
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After graduating with a degree in Politics from Saint Vincent College, he earned his MA from Northern Illinois University and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Missouri in 2019.
Kushner's research covers Indigenous and American political development, constitutionalism, and what pop culture can teach us about citizenship. Before joining the School of Civic and Economic Thought & Leadership, he taught courses at Northern Illinois University and Elgin Community College.
His has previously served as co-director (with Sean Beienburg) of the Living Repository of the Arizona Constitution initiative and is currently the faculty advisor for the Harm Reduction Club and the Thomistic Institute at ASU.
Ph.D., Political Science, University of Missouri
M.A., Political Science, Northern Illinois University
B.A., Politics, Saint Vincent College
Publications (Books)
Cherokee Nation Citizenship: A Political History (University of Oklahoma Press, 2025)
A Hero in All of Us? Heroism and American Political Thought as Seen on TV (Lexington Press, 2024) (Co-edited with Stephen Clouse)
Publications (Refereed)
"Swords into Plowshares: A Catholic Answer to America's Hero Problem." Catholic Social Science Review (FORTHCOMING)
"Consent, Revolution, and the End of the World: America's Apocalyptic Fixation as Politics." Perspectives on Political Science, FORTHCOMING (with Trevor Shelley)
- *Winner: APSA award for "Best Article Published in American Political Thought, 2024"
- Reviewed in Law & Liberty.
Publications (Book Review)
Review of Kristofer Ray, Cherokee Power: Imperial and Indigenous Geopolitics in the Trans-Appalachian West, 1670-1774 in Western Historical Quarterly (FORTHCOMING)
Publications (Popular)
"Conservative Progressivism?" Law & Liberty (January 6, 2025)
"Homeschooling and Civic Education." Homeschool Arizona (October 15, 2022)
"'The Power of the Dog' Messages the Urgent Need for Civic Education." Popmatters (March 30, 2022)
“Parasites: Montesquieu on the End of Civic Virtue in a Republic.” PopMatters (April 29, 2020)
“Republicanism—A Going Concern.” Starting Points Journal (September 3, 2019)
Prospective Publications (Works in Progress)
Impetuous Vortex: The Indian Removal Act of 1830
- A narrative history of the spring of 1830 and the passage of the Indian Removal Act in Congress; preparing proposal targeting Princeton University Press
The Pennsylvania State Constitution (with Sean Beienburg and Joe Wachtel)
- Book project under advance contract with Oxford University Press; manuscript due September 2026
Courses
2025 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
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CEL 492 | Honors Directed Study |
CEL 394 | Special Topics |
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 493 | Honors Thesis |
CEL 335 | Lincoln: Rhetoric, Thought |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 100 | Great Ideas Politics & Ethics |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
CEL 100 | Great Ideas Politics & Ethics |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 492 | Honors Directed Study |
CEL 493 | Honors Thesis |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 100 | Great Ideas Politics & Ethics |
CEL 100 | Great Ideas Politics & Ethics |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 494 | Special Topics |
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 200 | Great Debates in Amer Politics |
CEL 100 | Great Ideas Politics & Ethics |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 200 | Great Debates Amer Pol & Econ |
CEL 200 | Great Debates Amer Pol & Econ |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 200 | Great Debates Amer Pol & Econ |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
CEL 200 | Great Debates Amer Pol & Econ |
CEL 200 | Great Debates Amer Pol & Econ |