Past Community Members

Home>Academics>Research Centers>The Center for Critical Democracy Studies>Community>

MAIN MENU

Past Community Members

Past Visiting Scholars

Harald Hantke

Harald Hantke听was听a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in July-September 2025. His research project at 吃瓜tv is called "Deliberative Higher Education in Socioeconomic Education鈥� and focuses the question, how university students experience discussions in their socioeconomic education classes. The goal is to investigate how closely these discussions match the idea of communication in the context of deliberative democracy.

Professor Hantke is Junior Professor for Social Science Education at the Leuphana University of L眉neburg. A core of his work is to take an inter- and transdisciplinary look at the structures and conditions of political and economic didactics in the context of societal transformation processes. His research looks, for example, at how education can address sustainability, democracy, and their interactions.

Nefeli Lefkopoulou was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in 2025 Spring semester. She developed a research project on 鈥淐ities as Guarantors of Rights鈥� and taught 鈥淐onstitutional Law & Political Institutions鈥� at 吃瓜tv. Lefkopoulou is also an adjunct lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, teaching 鈥淭he Judge and the Expert鈥�, 鈥淐omparative Judicial Politics鈥� and 鈥渢he Politics of Electoral Systems鈥�. She obtained her Ph.D. in Public Law from Sciences Po Paris. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on evidence in constitutional adjudication from a comparative perspective. She holds a M.A. in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges), a Master 1 in Comparative Law from the University of Oxford and an LLB from the University of Paris II - Panth茅on-Assas.听

In 2018, she was a visiting research fellow at the C脿tedra de Cultura Jur铆dica at the University of Girona in Spain. During her doctoral research, she worked as an A.T.E.R. at the University of Paris 1 鈥� Panth茅on Sorbonne and taught European Union Law, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law at various Law Faculties in Paris. She has also worked as a Multimedia Journalist (Toute L鈥橢urope.eu), as a Research Assistant (Trinity College Dublin), and as a Law Clerk (Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP).

Adam Shinar

听is an associate Professor at the Harry Radzyner Law School at Reichman University. He was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in September 2024. During his stay, he presented two of his works-in-progress: 鈥淏oycotting German and Germany: Artistic Censorship and the Creation of Israel, 1948-1967鈥� and 鈥淐onstitutional Overhaul, the War in Gaza, and the听Puzzle of Civic Mobilization听in Israel鈥�.

Prof. Adam Shinar holds an S.J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he also served as the Clark Byse Fellow. He also holds an LL.B. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He clerked for the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, and worked as an attorney for several human rights NGOs in Israel and India. He specializes in constitutional law and theory and comparative constitutional law. His academic interests include labor law, administrative law, legal theory, sociology of law, and political philosophy. He has written on diverse topics, such as obedience to law by public officials, judicial review, constitutional interpretation, public sector reforms, constitutional rights in the Occupied Territories, and freedom of speech. More recently, he is working on the history of censorship of films and plays in Israel.

Prof. Shinar鈥檚 publications appeared in leading journals such as The American Journal of Comparative Law, the International Journal of Constitutional Law, Global Constitutionalism, Constitutional Commentary, the Theory and Practice of Legislation, and the Connecticut Law Review, among others. His research was presented in leading universities such as Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the European University Institute, in addition to being cited by the Israeli Supreme Court. Prof. Shinar was awarded the 2013 Israeli Association of Public Law Gorni Prize for Young Researchers. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and an academic advisory board member of the Israel Supreme Court Project at Cardozo Law School, Yeshiva University. He also served as a visiting professor at Cat贸lica University Law School in Lisbon.

Noam Maggor

听is Senior Lecturer in American History at the Queen Mary听University of London. He was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in 2023-2024, working on his new project, tentatively entitled 鈥淭he United States as a Developing Nation鈥�, which interrogates the integration of vast territories of what became the American West into the economic orbit of the United States. With renewed attention to the core concerns of political economy, it aims to position the Western U.S. comparatively alongside other global peripheries 鈥� in Russia, Egypt, India, and Latin America 鈥� that were aggressively pulled in this period into the world economy.

Noam Maggor is听a historian of the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with a particular emphasis on the emergence of industrial capitalism.听His听book听Brahmin Capitalism: Frontiers of Wealth and Populism in America's First Gilded Age, is a finance-driven and urban-centered account of the transformation of American capitalism at the end of the nineteenth century. It explores how the United States shifted from its former position in the world economy as an exporter of agricultural commodities 鈥� cotton, above all 鈥� to an industrial nation and imperial power on the world stage. In particular, the book analyzes the creation of an interconnected national market, which has long been viewed as immutable and technologically-driven, as a contentious and highly malleable political project. It more generally examines economic change as politically constituted and deeply ideological, transcending conceptual divides between economics, politics, culture, and society.听

Noam鈥檚听broad interests听include the history of capitalism, history of globalization, history of the state, business history, urban history, history of the United States, and the history of the American west.

厂辞蹿颈补听痴补濒别辞苍迟颈

厂辞蹿颈补听痴补濒别辞苍迟颈 is听Assistant Professor at the 吃瓜tv Department of听Economics and Management. She was a Faculty Fellow at the CCDS in 2022-2023 when she organized seminars on the history of economic thought, co-organized a conference on the 鈥溾€�, and took part in a reading group on the history of neoliberalism.

Professor Valeonti听holds a PhD in Economics from Paris 1 Panth茅on-Sorbonne University and has been a post-doc research fellow at Duke University.听She is听a historian of economics, especially interested in the history of monetary ideas and policies of 19th century US. Her research focuses on the interplay between economic theory, policy, and visions of economic development in the context of the monetary policy debates of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period (1865-1879). She is currently focusing her research to shed light on the role of monetary policies and ideas in the building of American capitalism, with particular emphasis on the way monetary policies affected the economic policies related to the status of the newly emancipated slaves.

Research Areas

Monetary and banking economics
History of monetary theories and ideas
International money and finance
U.S. 19th century political economy

Interview with听Sofia Valeonti

Scott Stephenson

听is听an Associate Professor at Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne. He was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in April-May 2023 as part of his sabbatical for the purpose of conducting research on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for constitutional democracy.

After receiving his BA and LLB(Hons) with the University Medal in Law from the Australian National University, Dr.听Scott Stephenson worked at the High Court of Australia for two years, first as the Court鈥檚 Legal Research Officer and subsequently as Associate to Justice Virginia Bell AC. He then obtained his LLM and JSD from Yale University. He has held visiting positions at the University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, King鈥檚 College London and University of Oxford. He is the Treasurer and a Council Member of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law.

His research focuses on topics of Australian and comparative constitutional law and theory, including federalism, models of rights protection, the separation of powers, and the use of comparative materials. His book on the bills of rights in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom,听, was awarded the Holt Prize in 2015. He has published in a number of leading Australian, Irish, UK, US and international journals, including the听American Journal of Comparative Law,听Dublin University Law Journal,听Federal Law Review,听International Journal of Constitutional Law,听Melbourne University Law Review,听Oxford Journal of Legal Studies听and听Sydney Law Review.

Michael Sonenscher听

听is Fellow of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge, and was听for many years its听Director of Studies in History.听He was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in March 2023. During his stay, he gave two lectures, on his 2020 book,听Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Division of Labour, The Politics of the Imagination and the Concept of Federal Government听(Brill), and on his 2022 book听Capitalism: The Story Behind the Word听(Princeton University Press).

Professor Sonenscher has published widely on French and European history and the history of political thought.听Among his earlier works are also听Work and Wages: Natural Law, Politics and the Eighteenth-Century French Trades听(1989),听Before the Deluge: Public Debt, Inequality and the Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution听(2007) and听Sans-Culottes: An Eighteenth-Century Emblem in the French Revolution听(2008).

Carlo Burelli

听is听Assistant Professor听at the听University of Eastern Piedmont. He was a Visiting Scholar at the CCDS in 2021-2022, teaching听鈥淓thical Inquiry: Problems and Paradigms鈥�.听Carlo's research is focused on traditional political realism, which has seen increased focus recently as a criticism of liberal theory, bridging classical philosophies of Machiavelli and Hobbes to contemporary issues. He听brought听a contemporary realist justification of democracy to the CCDS, one based on Machiavellian republicanism. In the Ethical Inquiry course, he听explored听normative ethics, whether the skepticism of ethics is warranted and how to answer skeptical challenges.听His听research is broadly interested in clarifying what can and should hold together today鈥檚 large and conflictual societies. This vast question led him to cross various debates: utopian and realist political theory, theories of justice and theories of legitimacy, solidarity and equality in contemporary political societies. He published two monographs in Italian, and several articles in leading international journals (such as European Journal of Political Theory, Journal of Common Market Studies, and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice).

Past Program Officers

Past Student Researchers and Interns

Alessia Lavorato was an intern at the CCDS in the 2024-2025 academic year. Alessia was an undergraduate student from the United States studying politics, history, and government at 吃瓜tv. She grew up in Southern California and loves living in Paris and being immersed in French culture. She has prior experience working as an intern for the United States House of Representatives and plans to pursue a JD/MBA degree. Alessia hopes to pursue a legal career advising government officials and agencies.

Emily Barlett was a Collegiate Student Fellow at the CCDS in June-August 2025. During her time at 吃瓜tv she worked with Professor Julian Culp on research centered around contemporary democratic theory. This research examined the influence of digitalization on public discourse and democratic ideals, focusing on how technological advancements are reshaping political engagement.

Emily is a rising sophomore at the University of Notre Dame studying Accounting and Economics, with strong interests in political systems, social impact, and public discourse. She is an active Student International Business Council travel team member, contributing to consulting and accounting projects. Emily also writes for The Observer, the University鈥檚 student newspaper, and manages its social media presence, combining her interests in communication and civic engagement. She has participated in multiple research initiatives, including a project through UC Irvine published in the UCI X GATI Science Journal, which examined the impact of social media on adolescent identity and conformity. At Notre Dame, she is also involved in Women in Economics and Fighting Together, reflecting her commitment to connecting business, media, and community-driven change.

Clare Flaherty was a Collegiate Student Fellow at the CCDS in June-August 2025. Clare is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College studying Politics, Philosophy & Economics and Sociology. She is passionate about the intersection of politics, economics, and global affairs, with a particular interest in democratic institutions and comparative politics. Clare is driven by a desire to understand how innovation and policy can be leveraged to tackle global challenges. She is an active board member for the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship and remains engaged in campus initiatives focused on social impact and civic engagement.

吃瓜tv

Search form