Assistant Professor of Political Science

Tom Hoffman

Assistant Professor of Political Science

Spring Hill College, Dept. of Political Science

4000 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 36608

Tel.: (251) 380-4184 (ofc) Email:

EDUCATION:

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

Ph.D., Political Science (2004)

Dissertation Title: “Toward a Sentimental Civic Liberalism: David Hume and the Virtues – Rational, Social and Political”

Dissertation Committee: Profs. Russ Hanson (chair), Jeffrey C. Isaac, Aurelian Craiutu, and Karen Hanson (philosophy department).

University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

M.A., Political Science (1995) B.A., Political Science (1986)

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

Political Theory: History of Western Political Philosophy, Contemporary Political Theory and American Political Thought

American Politics: Public Opinion, Institutions, U.S. Constitutional Law

Minor in Philosophy: Anglo-American Social Philosophy, Ethics

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Assistant Professor, Spring Hill College (Fall 2007- present)

§  American Democracy and Citizenship (POL 112)

§  Western Political Philosophy I (POL 381/PHL 351)

§  Western Political Philosophy II (POL 382/PHL 352)

§  Civil Liberties and Civil Rights (POL 342)

§  American Political Thought (POL 283)

§  American Political Thought, Honors (POL 290)

§  Judicial Process (POL 341)

§  Marxism and 20th Century Political Thought (POL 385)

§  Modernity (LIS/POL 503)

Visiting Assistant/Adjunct Professor, University of Illinois (2004-2007)

§  Socialist Theory (PS 375)

§  The U.S. Federal System (PS 308)

§  Normative Perspectives on American Politics (PS 452)

§  United States Supreme Court (PS 305)

§  U.S. Congress (PS 303)

§  Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics (PS 101)

§  Pre-Washington Internship Seminar (PS 199)

Lecturer, Colorado State University (2003-2004)

§  Western Political Theory (PO 420)

§  American Political Theories (PO 423)

§  Citizen Politics in the U.S. (PO 501)

o  a graduate seminar on American public opinion and democratic theory

§  Introduction to American Politics (PO 101)

Lecturer, Indiana University

§  Introduction to American Politics (Spring 2003)

§  American Political Controversies (Fall 2001, 1998-1999)

§  History of Political Thought II (Summer 2001; Summer 2000)

§  American Political Thought II (Spring 2001; Spring 2000; Summer 1999)

§  U.S. Congress (Fall 1999)

§  Political Ideas in the Novel (Fall 1997)

Instructor, Indiana University, Division of Extended Studies, Independent Study Program (Fall 1997 - Present)

Distance-Learning Courses:

§  American Constitutional Law I

§  American Politics through Film and Fiction

§  Introduction to Political Theory

Lecturer, Pima Community College (1995-1996 and Fall 1994)

§  Introduction to Political Thought

§  Introduction to American Politics

§  Introduction to Political Science (co-taught)

Teaching Assistantship (Associate Instructor), Indiana University Political Science Graduate Program (1996-1998; Spring 2002)

§  Introduction to American Politics; History of Political Thought; and Introduction to International Relations

Teaching Assistantships, University of Arizona Political Science Graduate Program (1993-1996)

§  Included guest lecturing, test development and grading for introductory and advanced courses in Marx and Marxism, history of political philosophy, democratic theory and American politics.

Tutor in Political Science, History and Sociology, University of Arizona's S.A.L.T. (Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques) Program (1993)

§  Training in alternative learning techniques, identification of learning disabilities and student motivation.

STUDENT ADVISING/MENTORING:

Pre-Law Advisor, Spring Hill College (Fall 2007-present)

Faculty Advisor (with Dr. Robert Harding), Spring Hill College Political Science and International Studies Club (Spring 2008-present)

Faculty Advisor, Iota Psi (Spring Hill College) Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, The Political Science Honorary (Fall 2007-present)

Supervised Independent Study Projects/Pre-Law Internships (Spring 2009)

Supervised Two Senior Honors Theses and Multiple Independent Study Projects at University of Illinois (Fall 2004-Spring 2007).

HONORS AND AWARDS:

Best Dissertation Award, Indiana University Dept. of Political Science

2005 Greenough Award.

§  Awarded for best dissertation completed the previous year.

Teaching Excellence Awards:

§  University of Illinois, Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students (Fall 2005, Spring 2007)

§  Indiana University, School of Continuing Studies (2003)

§  Indiana University, College of Arts and Sciences (1999-00)

§  Indiana University, College of Arts and Sciences (1998-99)

Faculty Consultant, College Board’s Advanced Placement Program, American Government and Politics (1998-2005).

Fellow, Institute for Humane Studies (1998-1999).

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS:

“The Quiet Desperation of Robert Dahl’s (Quiet) Radicalism” Critical Review, 15:1 (2003).

“Democratic Theory and the Intellectual Division of Labor in Mass Electorates” in Public Opinion and Democracy: Vox Populi-Vox Dei? ed. Slavko Splichal (Hampton Press, 2001), pp. 125-146.

“Humanism and Antihumanism in Lasch and Sandel” Critical Review, 13:1-2 (1999), pp. 97-114.

“Rationality Reconceived: The Mass Electorate and Democratic Theory” Critical Review, 12:4 (Fall 1998), pp. 459-480.

* * * *

American Politics Through Film and Fiction: A Learning Guide for Political Science Y373 (Indiana University, School of Continuing Studies: In Press)

“Review of Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic (2004) by Robert Morstein-Marx” Foundations of Political Theory at http://www.political-theory.org/books/reviews/morstein-marx.html

“Bureau of Indian Affairs” in The Historical Guide To American Government, ed. George Kurian (Oxford University Press; 1998). [Coauthored with Gwen Torges]

CONFERENCE PAPERS PRESENTED:

“Hume, Liberal Personality and Contemporary Democracy” presented at the 64th Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Hilton Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Ill., April 20-23, 2006.

“A Double Dialectic: David Hume in Dialogue with the Natural Law and Civic Republican Traditions” presented at the 63rd Annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Hilton Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Ill., April 7-10, 2005.

“Sentimental Liberalism: The Idea of the Good Citizen in David Hume’s Character Sketches” presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Political Theory, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Oct. 29, 2004.

“Hume’s Sentimental Citizenship” presented at the 31st Annual International Hume Society, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 2-7, 2004.

“Sentimental Civic Liberalism and First-Order Problems: A Comparison of Humean, Kantian, and Republican Models of Citizenship” presented at the 61st annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Hilton Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Ill., April 4, 2003.

“David Hume’s Sentimental Civic Liberalism,” presented at the 35th annual meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Providence Biltmore Hotel, Providence, Rhode Island, Nov. 7-9, 2002.

“Hume, Happiness and Citizen Virtue” presented at the 29th annual meeting of the International Hume Society, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, Aug. 6-10, 2002.

“Hume, Reason and Contemporary Democracy” presented at the 59th annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Ill, April 19-22, 2001.

“Humanism and Antihumanism in Lasch and Sandel” presented at the 1999 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Sept. 2-5, 1999.

RESEARCH/TEACHING SKILLS:

Reading Knowledge of Latin, French and Spanish.

Completed Training Session, “The Fundamentals of Experiential Education” at the 34th Annual Conference of the National Society for Experiential Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oct. 27-30, 2005.

REVIEWER:

American Political Science Review

Journal of Politics

REFERENCES:

Professor Alex Landi, Faculty Development and Chair of Political Science, Spring Hill College, 4000 Dauphin St., Mobile, AL 36608. Phone/Email: (251) 380-3056,

Professor Russell Hanson, Department of Political Science, 210 Woodburn Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. Phone/Email: (812) 855-6001;

Professor Jeffrey C. Isaac, Chair, Department of Political Science, 210 Woodburn Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. Phone/Email: (812) 855-8605;

Professor Aurelian Craiutu, Department of Political Science, 210 Woodburn Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. Phone/Email: (812) 855-8635;

Professor William Chaloupka, Chair, Dept. of Political Science, Mail Stop 1782, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Phone/Email: (970) 491-5304;

Professor Pete Nardulli, Center for the Study of Democratic Governance, 361 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St., MC-452, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801. Phone/Email: (217) 265-7846;

BRIEF THESIS ABSTRACT:

Toward a Sentimental Civic Liberalism: David Hume and the Virtues – Rational, Social and Political

My dissertation explores David Hume’s conception of moral virtue and how it relates to his understanding of citizenship. While Hume has long been recognized as an important voice in debates over the institutional and economic prerequisites of freedom, I argue that his concern for freedom is actually grounded in his understanding of virtue, or moral personality. Understood correctly, I believe Hume offers us a unique kind of liberal theory, which I deem a “sentimental civic liberalism” because it dissents from the rationalism at the heart of predominant forms of liberalism. Instead of understanding freedom as compliance with Reason or the dictates of natural law, Hume promotes a vision of the virtuous citizen as one who – free from fear and credulity – is animated by sentiments of human sociability to engage in practical moral (and political) reasoning.

“Virtue” and “citizen character” have once again become central topics in political theory, especially in debates between civic republicans and liberals. Hume’s thinking on these matters can inform this contemporary discussion and, if fully appreciated, would advance the liberal position in interesting ways. A Humean citizen eschews both the “heroic” rationalism recommended by many forms of liberalism and the heroic participatory ethos recommended by civic republicans. Preferring the everyday life of human society to any such heroic ideals, the sentimental civic liberal is more tolerant and sociable – embracing politics in all of its ordinariness.

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