William B. Parsons Associate Professor Department of Political Science and International Relations Carroll College wparsons@carroll.edu Home Address: 1630 Highland Street Helena, MT 59601 (406) 422-5362 Work Address: 1601 N. Benton Avenue Helena, MT 59625 (406) 447-5403 Education University of Toronto Ph.D., Political Science, 2008 Dissertation Title: The Conscience of Liberalism: A Comparison of the Political Thought of Thomas Paine and John Locke (Supervisor: Clifford Orwin) M.A., Political Science, 1999 University of Maine B.A., Political Science, summa cum laude, 1998 Employment Carroll College Associate Professor of Political Science, 2012-present (awarded tenure in 2014) Assistant Professor of Political Science, 2007-2012 James Madison University Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science, 2006-2007 Current Research and Publications Machiavelli s Hidden Princes. [Manuscript in progress: expected completion 2019] Machiavelli s Gospel: the Critique of Christianity in The Prince. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2016. Reviews have appeared in: Perspectives on Politics, Review of Politics, Renaissance Quarterly, and Heythrop Journal
Parsons CV, 2 La Carità Propria and the Uncertain Foundations of Unarmed Principalities. In In Search of Humanity: Essays in Honor of Clifford Orwin, 165-176. Edited by Andrea Radasanu. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2015. Of Majorities and Monarchies: Thomas Paine s Critique of the U.S. Constitution. Perspectives on Political Science 43.2 (2014): 93-101. Alexis de Tocqueville s View of the American Presidency and the Limits of Democratic Statesmanship. In Alexis de Tocqueville and the Art of Democratic Statesmanship, 139-154. Eds. L. Joseph Hebert and Brian Danoff. Santa Barbara: Lexington Books, 2010. Book Reviews Machiavelli s Legacy: The Prince after Five Hundred Years, by Timothy Fuller, ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. Perspectives on Politics 15.3 (2017): 863 865. Machiavelli s Prince: A New Reading, by Erica Benner, A Great and Wretched City: Promise and Failure in Machiavelli s Florentine Political Thought, by Mark Jurdjevic, and Redeeming the Prince: The Meaning of Machiavelli s Masterpiece, by Maurizio Viroli. Perspectives on Politics 13.2 (2015): 502 505. Courses Taught Regular Political Theory Curriculum: PO 100 Introduction to Political Thought PO 205 Early Modern Political Thought PO 216 American Political Thought PO 331 Classical Political Thought PO 332 Late Modern Political Thought PO 330 Green Political Thought PO 330 Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War PO 495: Senior Seminar Other Courses: HNR 150 Greek and Roman Thought HNR 250 Renaissance Thought PO 280 Introduction to Comparative Politics PO 324 Topics in Comparative Politics (various) PO 330 Communism: Theory and Practice PO 330 The U.S. Constitution POSC 100 Introduction to U.S. Government (James Madison University) LAS 101 Freshman Alpha Seminar Parsons, 2
Research Interests, Presentations, and Professional Service Research Interests: the political thought of Machiavelli religion and early modern political thought Presentations: Francesco Sforza s Tantalizing Virtue. Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2017. Machiavelli s Judgment of Islamic Virtue. Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2016. Machiavelli s Exhortation and the Meaning of The Prince. Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Boise, ID, 2015. Italy s Harrowing Redemption. Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2015. Charity, Hope, Arms, and the Antichrist: Machiavelli s Summary Critique of Christian Politics. Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2014. Overcoming the Siren-Song of Faith, Hope and Love: Machiavelli s Radical Critique of Christianity and Christianized Politics in the Early Chapters of The Prince. Machiavelli Between Past and Future: Reflections on the 500 th Anniversary of The Prince and the State of Machiavelli Scholarship. Texas A & M. February 8-9, 2014. Overcoming the Siren-Song of Faith, Hope and Love: Machiavelli s Radical Critique of Christianity and Christianized Politics in the Early Chapters of The Prince, Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2013. The Scene of the Crime: Machiavelli s Initial Indictment of Christianity in The Prince, Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association Conference, Seattle, WA, 2012. Approaches to Machiavelli, Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2012. The Problem of Material Inequality in a Liberal System: Thomas Paine s Critique of John Locke s Theory of Property, Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association Conference, Seattle, WA, 2011. The Challenge of Moral Flexibility and Reform of European Politics: Chapters 19 and 20 of
Parsons CV, 4 The Prince, Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, LA, 2011. Tom Paine and the American Constitution, Annual Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association Conference, Spokane, WA, 2010. Chapter 19 of The Prince: Crime, Christianity, and the Challenge of Moral Flexibility," Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2010. (Recipient of Review of Politics Award) Thomas Paine s Problematic (and Prescient) Critique of the American Constitutional Arrangement, Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2009. Uncivil Religion? Thomas Paine s Critique of Religion and the Liberal Church, Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2008. (panel creator) Thomas Paine, John Locke, and the Liberal Argument for a Welfare State, Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2007. Conferences and Summer Programs Attended: 2016 Jack Miller Center Academic Summit, Philadelphia 2014 Jack Miller Center Regional Summit, Portland 2012, Jack Miller Center Academic Summit, Chicago 2012, Jack Miller Center Summer Institute, Chicago 2007-2016 MPSA, Chicago 2010 SPSA, New Orleans 2010-2012, 2015 NWPSA, Spokane, Seattle, Portland, Boise 2008 APSA, Boston 2006 APSA, Philadelphia Reviewer for the Following Publications: Review of Politics American Political Science Review Perspectives on Politics McGill/Queen s University Press Current Professional Memberships: American Political Science Association Midwestern Political Science Association Association of Political Theory Pacific Northwest Political Science Association Parsons, 4
Parsons CV, 5 Awards, Grants, and Fellowships Apgar Foundation Grant for Constitutional Studies (~$25,000), 2015, 2016, 2017 Carroll College Distinguished Scholar Award, 2015 Jerry Berberet Summer Writing Grant, 2013 Carroll College Competitive Course Release, Spring 2013 Jack Miller Center Fellowship, 2012-present Review of Politics Award, Annual Meeting of the MPSA, 2011 Jerry Berberet Summer Writing Grant, 2010 University of Toronto Fellowship, 1998, 2001-2003 Earhart Foundation Fellowship, 2000, 2002 Donner Foundation Fellowship, 2000 Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Fellowship, 1998-1999 John M. Olin Foundation Fellowship, 1999 Selected Professional Service to Carroll College Director, Constitutional Studies Program, Spring 2013-present Director, Carroll College Honors Scholars Program, 2015-present Chair, Department of Political Science and International Relations, 2009-2015, 2017 Pre-Law Advisor, Carroll College, 2008-present Chair, Faculty Welfare Committee, 2015-present Parsons, 5