Joseph Clarkson

Biography

Joseph Clarkson is Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar at the University of Notre Dame where he completed his Ph.D. in Political Science in 2024. Joseph’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of political theory and international relations, including theories of state formation and sovereignty as well as the causes of war. His dissertation recovers the ongoing significance of the political thought of the Weimar-era jurist and social democratic theorist Hermann Heller. Joseph’s first book project builds on this foundation by exploring the interconnections between normative and descriptive theory in Heller’s theory of the modern state.

Prior to completing his doctorate, Joseph received an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. Before joining Notre Dame, Joseph studied Philosophy, Classics, and German through the University Scholars Program at Baylor University, where he received his B.A. in 2019. His research has been published by Political Research Quarterly and has been supported by generous grants from the American Political Science Association, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Mercatus Center, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Institute for the Study of the Liberal Arts, and the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame.