LINDSAY MAHON RATHNAM
Political Theorist, Duke Kunshan University
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Duke Kunshan University
Specialities: Ancient Political Thought, History of Political Thought, Comparative Political Theory
Listen to me at https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/herodotus-power-of-story-1.6994534
Publications
2023: "The Marketplace of Ideas and the Agora: Herodotus on the Power of Isegoria". APSR 117 (1): 140-152)
2018: "The Madness of Cambyses: Herodotus on the Problem of Inquiry". Polis 35: 61-82
2017: "A More Suitable Story: Herodotus' Helen and the Poetic Origins of the Hellenes." in Classical Rationalism and the Politics of Europe, ed. Ann Ward, Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Co-Authored:
2023: "The Contours of the Canon: Liberal Education, Universalism, And Representation." With Lincoln Rathnam. In Liberal Education and Citizenship in a Free Society. Eds. Justin Dyer and Constantine Vassiliou, University of Missouri Press.
Journalism:
CBC Ideas Podcast Participant: "Herodotus: The Power and Peril Of Story," Air date: October, 2023 (CBC radio; www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas); Part Two, on Ancient Despotism and the Modern World, air date TBA (end of 2023).
"Rob Ford and Donald Trump: Plato Would Get It." With Clifford Orwin. Globe and Mail, March 30 2016
Book Manuscript:
Herodotus' Therapy of Judgment: The Histories as a Guide to Thinking Across Cultures
RESEARCH
In our increasingly globalized world, we are called to negotiate cultural difference and promote respectful, informed, and dynamic cultural exchange. Yet such interactions can become fraught with misunderstanding and even violence. My research responds to these challenges by focusing on how we might make considered judgments when engaging with difference, while avoiding the impediments posed to thoughtful cross-cultural interaction by both parochialism and relativism. In approaching this question, I bring to bear perspectives from contemporary political theory, feminist theory, and ancient political thought. In my work, I urge that developing more nuanced accounts of the psychology of judgment can better equip us for citizenship in contemporary pluralistic societies.
Bio
I grew up in a small town in Northern Saskatchewan (population: about 5000). I first encountered Ancient Greek philosophy during my undergraduate degree, and it's taken me far from Saskatchewan- from Ottawa to Toronto to Atlanta to China. I began work at Duke Kunshan University, a liberal arts joint-venture project between Wuhan and Duke, in January 2020. Turns out that was quite a historic time to move to China. My experiences here have sharpened my interest in the fruitfulness of thinking across cultures, and the everlasting pertinence of the basic questions of political philosophy. I've also learned how to work with two small kids at home. Pictured: class prep during home quarantine, October 2020
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
2017
PhD, Department of Political Science
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
2009
Master's Degree, Department of Political Science
CARLETON UNIVERSITY
2007
Magna Cum Laude, Senate Medallist, Bachelor of Humanities