RICHARD S. RUDERMAN January, 2017 Department of Political Science 1155 Union Circle #305340 University of North Texas Denton, TX 76203-5017 email: ruderman[at]unt.edu (940) 565-4944 (office) Education Ph.D/M.A. (1990, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago) Dissertation: Xenophon s Anabasis and the Classical View of Ruling. Advisor: Allan Bloom. B.A. with Honors (1980, Political Science, University of Toronto). Professional Experience June 1999-present Associate Professor University of North Texas July 2010-Aug. 2014 Department Chair University of North Texas June 2008-present Fellow Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University Aug.1993-June 1999 Assistant Professor University of North Texas Aug. 1992-July 1993 Olin Faculty Fellow University of Chicago Aug. 1989-July 1992 Visiting Assistant Professor Colgate University Publications Book: Reorientation: Leo Strauss in the 1930s. Eds. Martin D. Yaffe and Richard S. Ruderman. (Palgrave) 2014. Articles (all in refereed journals): Statesmanship Reconsidered. Perspectives on Political Science 41:2 (Apr/Jun 2012): 86-89. Liberalism and Parental Control of Education (co-authored with R. Kenneth Godwin). Review of Politics 62:3 (Summer 2000): 503-529. Odysseus and the Possibility of Enlightenment. American Journal of Political Science 43:1 (January 1999): 138-161.
2 as co-author with R. Kenneth Godwin, Frank Kemerer, and Valerie Martinez: "Liberal Equity in Education: A Comparison of Choice Options," along with a response to critics: Equity, Diversity, and Tolerance in Education. Social Science Quarterly 79: 3 (Fall 1998): 502-522, 548-553. Democracy and the Problem of Statesmanship. Review of Politics 59:4 (Fall, 1997): 759-787. (This appeared as the issue's lead article, selected to provide a "reflective overview of a significant dimension of politics and/or the study of politics.") *An excerpt of this article appeared in The Wilson Quarterly [Jan. 1998]: 117. Aristotle and the Recovery of Political Judgment. American Political Science Review 91:2 (June 1997): 409-420. Book Chapters (all invited and non-refereed): Practice and Principle in Ancient Statesmanship in Prudence and Principle: Essays in Honor of Nathan Tarcov, eds. Jonathan Marks and Christopher Lynch (Lexington, 2016) On Leo Strauss Presentation of Xenophon s Political Philosophy in The Problem of Socrates. In Brill s Companion to Leo Strauss s Writings on Classical Political Thought. Ed. Timothy W. Burns. (Leiden: Brill, 2015). Through the Keyhole : Leo Strauss Rediscovery of Classical Political Philosophy in Xenophon s Constitution of the Lacedaemonians. In Brill s Companion to Leo Strauss s Writings on Classical Political Thought. Ed. Timothy W. Burns. (Leiden: Brill, 2015). (with R. Kenneth Godwin) State versus Parental Control of Education. In Melissa Deckman and Joseph Prud'homme, editors. Curriculum and the Culture Wars: When and Where is Religion Appropriate in the Public Schools? (Peter Lang, 2014). A Slingshot Recoils: The Critique of Philosophy in Halevi s Kuzari. In The Recovery of Classical Political Rationalism: Essays in Honor of Thomas L. Pangle (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2012). Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and the Abolition of Slavery. In History of American Political Thought. Edited by Bryan-Paul Frost and Jeffrey Sikkenga (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2003). Love and Friendship in Homer's Odyssey." In Political Philosophy and the Human Soul: Essays in Honor of Allan Bloom. Edited by Michael Palmer and Thomas L. Pangle (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995).
"Leadership." In The Encyclopedia of Democracy. Edited by Seymour Martin Lipset (Washington: Congressional Quarterly Books, 1995). 3 "The Rule of a Philosopher-King: Xenophon's Anabasis." In Politikos II: Educating the Ambitious. Edited by Leslie G. Rubin (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press, 1992). Reviews: Review of Hillel Halkin s After One Hundred and Twenty: Death, Mourning, and the Afterlife in the Jewish Tradition. In Interpretation (forthcoming May 2017). Review of Zdravko Planinc s Platonic Political Philosophy. In Polis 11:2 (1992): 195-209. Review of Peter J. Ahrensdorf s The Death of Socrates and the Life of Philosophy. In Political Studies 45:2 (June, 1997): 394. Grants & Contracts June 2009 Research and Creativity Grant UNT ($3,000) Jan. 2009 Learning Enhancement Grant UNT ($5,000) Spring 06 Learning Enhancement Grant UNT ($8,000) Spring 01 Faculty Sabbatical Research Grant Earhart Foundation ($20,000) 8/99 Developing Scholar Award UNT ($3,000) 2/99 (for Spring 00) Freedom Project Teaching Grant Templeton Foundation ($32,000) 6/95-8/95 Jr. Faculty Summer Fellowship UNT ($3,500) 6/94-8/94 Faculty Fellowship Earhart Foundation ($7,300) 7/92-6/93 Junior Faculty Fellowship Olin Foundation ($37,000)
4 Professional Activities Membership in professional organizations: American Political Science Association, Society for the Study of Greek Political Thought. Additional Responsibilities and Other Activities: reviewed articles for American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Review of Politics, Political Research Quarterly; presented papers at meetings of APSA, MWPSA, SWSSA. Honors: selected Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society Undergraduate Professor of the Year, 1997-98; McNair Program Award for Commitment to Undergraduate Research, 2007; Honors College mentoring Award (2009). Teaching interests: political theory (ancient, modern, contemporary); Liberalism and its Critics; American Political Thought; Statesmanship; Jewish Political Thought. Areas of expertise: Political theory (ancient, early modern, contemporary democratic theory); American political thought; leadership; Presidency. Courses Taught Undergraduate Courses: Political Theory to 1700. Political Theory since 1700 Politics of Popular Culture Honors American/Texas Gov.--Institutions & Policies. Honors American/Texas Gov.--Constitutions. The American Quest for Justice (blended course) The Idea of America in the Novel Democracy & Its Critics Educating Liberal Democratic Citizens The American Political and Economic Experience (blended course) Senior Seminar: American Statesmanship. Senior Seminar: Plato's Shorter Dialogues. Senior Seminar: Thucydides. Senior Seminar: Classical Ethics in Homer & Aristotle. Senior Seminar: Xenophon s Political Thought. Senior Seminar: Jewish Political Thought. Senior Seminar: Zionism and Liberalism. Senior Seminar: Medieval Political Thought. Senior Seminar: Rousseau on the Sexes and the Family. Graduate Courses: Political Theory Proseminar. Machiavellianism. Statesmanship & Democracy. Rousseau s Emile. Nietzsche s Beyond Good and Evil.
5 Leo Strauss s Critique of Relativism. Plato's Republic. Politics and Literature. Xenophon s Socrates. Tutorial on Locke's Political Thought. Abstracts, Proceedings, and Papers Presented Commentator on Ancient Tragedy and Comedy panel at the Northeast Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Boston, Nov. 2016 Commentator on Approaches to Plato panel at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Chicago, April 2016 Chaired panel on Wisdom of Ancient Texts at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting; San Francisco, Sept. 2015 Leo Strauss on Xenophon and the Problem of Heidegger presented at the Northeast Political Science Association Meeting; Boston, Nov. 2014. Democratic Demagoguery in Aristophanes The Knights presented at the Northeast Political Science Association Meeting; Boston, Nov. 2012. Through the Keyhole: Leo Strauss s Interpretation of Xenophon s Constitution of the Lacedaemonians presented at the Northeast Political Science Association Meeting; Philadelphia, Nov. 2011. Discussant at a Roundtable on Parens and Macfarland s Medieval Political Philosophy: a Sourcebook at the Northeast Political Science Association Meeting; Philadelphia, Nov. 2011. Discussant at a Roundtable on Leo Strauss s Thoughts on Machiavellli at the University of Texas at Austin, January 1-4, 2011. Discussant at a Roundtable on Nietzsche s Twilight of the Idols at the University of Texas at Austin, January 1-4, 2010. Roundtable participant on Peter J. Ahrensdorf s Greek Tragedy and Political Philosophy at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Philadelphia, Nov. 2009. Participated in an invited set of roundtable discussions on The Political Themes of the Passover Story ; Tikvah Foundation; Princeton University; June and November, 2009. Roundtable participant on Aristotle s Metaphysics at the University of Texas at Austin; Jan. 2009.
Discussant at a Roundtable on Robert Faulkner s The Case for Greatness, at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Boston; Nov. 13, 2008 Homer s Narrative in the Face of Death. Paper presented at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Boston; Nov. 13, 2008 Discussant at a Roundtable on Maimonides Moral Thought at The University of Texas at Austin, January 7-10, 2008. Discussant at a Roundtable on Religion and Politics in Nietzsche s Beyond Good and Evil at the Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting; New Orleans, January, 2005. Discussant at a Roundtable on Xenophon s Education of Cyrus at the Southwestern Social Science Annual Meeting; Corpus Cristi, March, 2004. Discussant at a Roundtable on Prudential Leadership at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Boston, September, 2002. Discussant for panel on Politics and Excellence at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting; San Francisco, September, 2001. Thucydides Archidamus on Justice and Human Responsibility. Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Atlanta, September, 1999. Leo Strauss s Use and Abuse of Machiavelli. Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting; Washington, August, 1997. Invited discussant at Conference on the Tenth Anniversary of Allan Bloom s The Closing of the American Mind, University of Chicago, June 1997. "Non-Instrumental Values in a Rational Society." Paper delivered to the Classic Learning Core, University of North Texas, November, 1995. "Odysseus and the Birth of Individualism." Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, September, 1995. Chair and discussant for panel on "Platonic Political Philosophy" at the Southwest Social Science Association Convention; March, 1995. "The Changing Nature of Political Judgment." Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New York, September, 1994. "Xenophon's Statesmanship in the Anabasis." Paper delivered at the Southwestern Social Science Association Convention; April, 1994. 6
7 "Benjamin Barber's Critique of Statesmanship." Paper delivered at the Midwest Political Science Association Convention, April, 1993. Department/Division Committees & Councils Fall 2016: Chair, Graduate Studies Committee Chair, Spring Banquet Committee Member, Library Committee Spring 2015: Fall 2015: Chair, Spring Banquet Committee Member, Graduate Studies Committee Faculty Development Leave (but I attended all annual committee evaluation meetings for grad students) 2014-2015: Chair, Martin Colloquium Committee Co-chair, Student Grants and Awards Committee Member, Graduate Studies Committee 2013-2014: Department Chair Chair, Chairs Council Member, Provost s Council Member, University Space Committee 2012-2013: Department Chair Member, Chairs Council 2011-2012: Department Chair 2010-2011: Department Chair Leadership Fellow 2009-2010: Chair, Workbook Committee Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee 2008-2009: Chair, Workbook Committee Member, Grants & Awards Committee 2007-2008: Member, Executive Committee Chair, Workbook Committee Member, Grants & Awards Committee 2006-2007: Member, Executive Committee Chair, Workbook Committee Member, Grants and Awards Committee
2005-2006: Assistant Chair of Department Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee Chair, Workbook Committee 8 2004-2005: Assistant Chair of Department Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee Chair, Workbook Committee 2003-2004: Assistant Chair of Department Member, Executive Committee Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee 2002-2003: Assistant Chair of Department Chair, Ad Hoc Workbook Committee Member, Executive Committee 2001-2002: On Faculty Development Leave 2000-2001: Member, Executive Committee Chair, Library Committee Member, Graduate Studies Committee. 1999-2000: Member, Executive Committee Chair, Library Committee Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee 1998-99: Chair, Library Committee. Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee. 1997-98: Chair, Library Committee. 1996-97: Chair, Library Committee. 1995-96: Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee. 1994-97: Advisor, Jewish Students Association. 1994-95: Chair, Undergraduate Studies Committee. Elections Judge. Member, Grants & Awards Committee. 1993-94: Member, Graduate Studies Committee. Member, Library Committee.
9 University Service 2016-present: Member, Faculty Senate 2002-2009: Member, Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Committee Languages Ancient Greek, French; some reading competence in Hebrew, Italian, German.