Aaron Kushner
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Mail code: 0602Campus: Tempe
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After growing up in New Castle, Pennsylvania, Aaron Kushner attended Saint Vincent College, graduating in 2013 with a major in politics, and earned his master's degree in political science at Northern Illinois University in 2015. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of Missouri in 2019.
Kushner's teaching and research interests include Indigenous and American Political Development, Constitutional Law, Citizenship, and the Politics of Film. Before joining the School of Civic and Economic Thought & Leadership (SCETL), he taught courses at Northern Illinois University and Elgin Community College.
His has served as co-director (with Sean Beienburg) of the Living Repository of the Arizona Constitution initiative and is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies at SCETL. He also serves as the faculty advisor for 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)
"Forgotten Founder: Michael Cunniff, Arizona's First Legislative Leader." Journal of Arizona History, FORTHCOMING (with Sean Beienburg)
"John Wick in Purgatorio," in Jonathan Ashbach, ed., Winning the Crowd: The Politics of Popular Films (Lexington Press, 2025): FORTHCOMING
"Consent, Revolution, and the End of the World: America's Apocalyptic Fixation as Politics." Political Science Reviewer, FORTHCOMING (with Trevor Shelley)
- Reviewed in Law & Liberty.
Publications (Book Review)
Publications (Popular)
"Homeschooling and Civic Education." Homeschool Arizona (October, 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)
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| CEL 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| 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 |