Travis D. Smith, PhD

Professor Smith is principally interested in the intersection of politics, religion, and science, especially in early modern political philosophy. He is also interested in the relationship between storytelling and education.

His publications include examinations of the ideas of Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Education

PhD (Harvard University)
AM (Harvard University)
BA (Honours) (McMaster University)

Research interests

Early Modern Philosophy, Religion & Science.
Politics, Fiction, and Popular Culture.

Professor Smith is a member of RECOVER19 (Re-Evaluating the COronaVirus Emergency Response) https://recover19.org/publications/

POLI 371                 Early Modern Political Philosophy
POLI 373                 Late Modern Political Philosophy
POLI 384                 Principles of Political Theory
POLI 401                 The American Political Tradition
POLI 415                 Modern Political Theory and Religion
POLI 490                 Advanced Seminar in Political Theory: Totalitarianism
POLI 625                 Policy Discourse of Biotechnology
POLI 631                 Political Texts
POLI 632/804          Seminar in Political Theory
POLI 685P/814C      Happiness

Professor Smith also conducts the Reading Lab in Political Theory

Ética y superpoderes, trad. Maia Figueroa Evans (temas de hoy, 2019).
アメコミヒーローの倫理学 [Ethics of the American comic hero], trans. Shinnosuke Horiuchi & Kenji Tsukagoshi (Parco, 2019).

Flattering the Demos, co-edited with Marlene K. Sokolon (Lexington Books, 2018).

"Comedy and Comic Books." In Flattering the Demos (Lexington Books, 2018), 69-86.

"The Hobbesian Foundations of Modern Illiberal Education." In Liberal Education, Civic Education, and the Canadian Regime. Edited by David W. Livingstone (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015), 268-86.

"Harvey Mansfield: Teaching Not Differently, But Further Than the Parties." In Teaching in an Age of Ideology. Edited by John von Heyking and Lee Trepanier (Lexington Books, 2012), 217-43.

“Forgiving Those Not Trespassing Against Us: Hobbes and the Establishment of the Nonsectarian State Church.” In Civil Religion in Political Thought: Its Perennial Questions and Enduring Relevance in North America. Edited by Ronald Weed and John von Heyking (Catholic University of America Press, 2010), 93-120.

“Amoral Dilemmas and the Temptation to Tyranny in A Simple Plan.” In Damned If You Do: Dilemmas of Action in Literature and Popular Culture. Edited by Margaret Hrezo and John Michael Parrish (Lexington Books, 2010), 189-209.

“Being Altogether Bad, Becoming Altogether Good.” In The Arts of Rule: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield. Edited by Sharon R. Krause and Mary Ann McGrail (Lexington Books, 2009), 167-84.

“Hobbes on Getting By with Little Help from Friends.” In Friendship and Politics: Essays in Political Thought. Edited by John von Heyking and Richard Avramenko (University of Notre Dame Press, 2008), 214-47.

“On the Fourth Law of Nature.” Hobbes Studies 16 (2003): 84-94.