SAMMY BASU

Department of Politics, Willamette University, 900 State Street, Salem, OR 97301, USA

O: (503) 370-6264, H: (503) 364-8834, F: (503) 370-6720, E: sbasu@willamette.edu, W: www.willamette.edu/~sbasu/

ACADEMIC DEGREES

1988 – 93	Ph.D. in Politics, Princeton University, NJ, USA Fields: Political Theory, Comparative Politics, Political Economy	Thesis: 'Self-Ownership and Friendship: the Liberal Individualism of La Boétie, Overton and Stirner' Advisor: George Kateb Nominated for the American Political Science Association Leo Strauss Award for the best Doctoral Dissertation in political philosophy
1988 – 90	M.A. in Politics, Princeton University, NJ, USA
1986 – 88	M.A. in Political Science, University of Calgary, AB, Canada	Thesis: 'Virtue through Reason: Praxis not Poiesis, in Aristotle, Machiavelli and Hobbes' Advisor: Anthony Parel
1982 – 86	B.A. Honors in Political Science, University of Calgary, AB, Canada	Thesis: 'On Philosophy and History: Leo Strauss & Quentin Skinner' Advisor: Anthony Parel

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

Sep 1999 – present Sep 1993 – May 1999	Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Willamette University, Dept of Politics	Courses Taught: Interdisciplinary Studies 101: Oh Canada! Politics 115: Individuality and Community Politics 212: History of Western Political Philosophy Politics 213: Writing Political Philosophy Politics 303: Topics in Political Theory: various incl. 'cruelty,' death' Politics 305: Modern Political Theory Politics 311: Writing Political Humor Politics 315: Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan and the Modern Age Politics 390: Independent Studies in Political Theory: including 'democratic theory,' 'English political thought' Politics 480: Senior Thesis Seminar Humanities 497: Michel Montaigne's Essais Foreign Studies: The Birth of Modern Democracy: Political Thought in Mid-17th C. England
Sep 1991 – Jan 1992	Teaching Assistant, Princeton University, Dept of Politics	Politics 325: Personal and Political Transformation, for Prof. Manfred Halpern,
Sep 1990 – Jan 1991	Teaching Assistant, Princeton University, Dept of Politics	Politics 303: Ancient and Medieval Political Theory, for Prof. George Kateb,
May 1987 – Sep 1987	Research Assistant, University of Calgary, Dept of Political Science	Budget Project, for Prof. Mark O. Dickerson

PUBLICATIONS

2008.	“Review of Rudolf M. Dekker. Humour in the Dutch Culture of the Golden Age.” Humor, 21, 2, pp.221-225.
2008.	“ ‘To try things themselves’: Freedom of Expression in a Democratic Multicultural Polity.” In Campus Conversations: The Role of Freedom of Expression in a Multicultural and Democratic Society. (Ed.) Jenny Jopp. Salem, OR: Willamette University, pp.22-58.
2007.	“‘A little discourse pro & con’: Levelling laughter and its Puritan criticism,” International Review of Social History. 52. Supplement S15, pp.95-113.
2005.	“Letting the Hydra Roam: Attending to Diverse Forms of Diversity in Liberal Arts Education,” Chapter Two in Teaching Inclusively. (Ed.) Mathew Ouellett. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press, pp.21-33.
2003.	and Linda Heuser. ‘Using Service-Learning in Death Education.’ Death Studies, 27, 10, pp.901-927.
2003.	“Guerillas in our midst.” Collegian, April 30, p.7.
2003.	“Technology: the Faculty Perspective.” The Scene: The University Magazine for Willamette Alumni, Spring, pp.18-19.
2002.	“Book review of Murphy, Andrew. Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America.” History of Political Thought, 23, 4, pp.728-731.
2002.	‘The Wonder Years of IT-Based Liberal Arts Instruction: Notes from a Conference in 2000.’ Bits, Bytes & Nybbles, Fall, 1, pp.4-5.
2002.	‘‘We are in strange hands, and things are come to a strange passe’: Argument and Rhetoric Against Heresy in Thomas Edwards's Gangraena [1646],’ in Histories of Heresy in Early Modern Europe: For, Against, and Beyond Persecution and Toleration. (ed.) John Christian Laursen. New York: Palgrave, pp.11-32.
1999.	‘‘Woe unto you that laugh now!’: Humor and Toleration in Overton and Shaftesbury,’ in J.C. Laursen (ed.), Religious Toleration: 'The Variety of Rites' from Cyrus to Defoe. New York: St. Martin's Press, pp.147-172.
1999.	‘Dialogic Ethics and the Virtue of Humor.’ Journal of Political Philosophy, 7, 4, pp.378-403.
1995.	‘Book review of Loyseau, Charles. A Treatise of Orders and Plain Dignities.’ History of Political Thought, 16, 2, pp.289-291.
1990.	‘‘In a Crazy Time the Crazy Come Out Well': Machiavelli and the Cosmology of His Day.’ History of Political Thought, 11, 2, pp.213-39.

PAPERS & INVITED PARTICIPATION

7-11 July 2008	‘Is Thomas Hobbes really a theorist of superiority humor?’ Poster: ‘Democracy, and the benign and malign effects of humor: the case of Weimar Germany’ International Society for Humor Studies, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
24-26 April 2008	Discussant for ‘Policy-making: Representation, Rights, and Foreign Relations’ Panel Discussant for ‘North American Hemispheric Partnerships’ Panel Discussant for ‘Evaluating Political Actors’ Panel Western Social Science Association, Denver, CO.
1-3 June 2007	Invited Participant in ‘The Role of Comedy in a Free Society.’ Liberty Fund Colloquium, Montreal, QC, Canada.
13 April 2007	‘Support our Tropes: Deliberative Democracy and Ironic Speech.’ Western Social Science Association – Canadian Studies/Political Science, Calgary, AB, Canada.
13 April 2007	‘The Nature and Origins of the Australian Sense of Humor.’ Western Social Science Association – New Zealand and Australia Studies, Calgary, AB, Canada.
18-21 Jan 2007	Invited Participant in ‘Liberty, Commerce, and Character in Hume’s Essays.’ Liberty Fund Colloquium, Pasadena, CA.

21 Oct 2006	‘‘Pitiful, funny, and surprising’: The Tale of Er as comic iconoclasm.’ Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Bend, Or.
3 July 2006	‘‘The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy’: Puritan objections to humor.’ The 18th International ISHS Humor Conference. The Danish University of Education, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1 July 2006	‘The Ironic Speech Situation: discursive democracy, citizenship, and humor.’ Citizenship(s) – International Congress on Discourses and Practices. Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal.
25 Mar 2006	‘‘There never was a greater generation of scoffers at Religion’: Thomas Hobbes and the humor of the Leviathan.’ International Hobbes Association, American Philosophical Association - Pacific Division. Portland OR.

7 Oct 2005	‘Deliberative Democracy and Comic Voice.’ Social Theory, Politics and the Arts 2005, University of Oregon, Eugene OR.
19 Mar 2005	‘Stooping to Conquer’ or ‘Speaking mirth to power’: the status of political humor.’ Western Political Science Association, Oakland CA.

6 Nov 2004	‘Stooping to Conquer’ or ‘Speaking mirth to power’: the status of political humor.’ Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Portland OR.
17 June 2004	‘Testing the 'Amusing Difference': Montaigne and the Ethics of his Comic Style.’ International Society for Humor Studies, Dijon, France.

18 Sept 2003	‘Shock and Awe: or Machiavelli's theory of politics as comedy.’ Faculty Colloquium, Department of Political Science, U. of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
3 July 2003	‘Departing the text: Machiavelli on politics and humor.’ Australasian Centre for Italian Studies Conference on ‘Italians and Their Others: Representations, identities and exchanges at home and abroad,’ University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
7 May 2003	‘Thucydides and War.’ Willamette U First-Year Seminar Workshop, Salem, OR.
5 Apr 2003	‘Death on the Web: teaching a case-based ethics and public policy course using IT and the Internet.’ Wise Uses of Technology: Social Science & Language Arts Spring Faculty Conference, University of Portland, Portland, OR.
14 Jan 2003	‘The Laughter of Machiavelli: Humor and Power Politics.’ Hawaii International Conference on the Arts and Humanities, Waikiki, HI.
8 Jan 2003	With Catherine Collins, ‘Is There Room in Liberal Arts for Information Technology?: A Report on the On-going Efforts to Integrate Technology into the Required Freshman Program at Willamette University.’ Hawaii International Conference on Education, Waikiki, HI.

7 Dec 2002	‘Conversation with Senior Liberal Arts Faculty.’ American Council of Learned Societies. New York, NY.
18 Oct 2002	‘The Birth of the Modern Nation State and Crowd Control: Reading the Frontispiece of Hobbes Leviathan (1651).’ Pacific North Western Political Science Association, Bellevue, WA.
4 July 2002	‘Laughing at Miss Fortuna: Machiavelli and derision of state.’ International Society for Humor Studies, Forli, Italy.

15 Mar 2001	‘Locke, Stock, and Barrel: The Illiberalism of Lockean Politics.’ Western Political Science Association, Las Vegas, NV.
15 Mar 2001	‘Sex, Lies, and Heresy: The Early-Modern Origins of the Liberal Public-Private Distinction.’ Western Political Science Association, Las Vegas, NV.

24-28 Jul 2000	‘The Ridiculous in Plato's Republic, or a funny thing happened on the way back from the Piraeus: The Tale of Er.’ International Society for Humor Studies, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan.
27-8 Apr 2000	Invited Participant in ‘Questioning Values, Defending Values.’ 10th Anniversary Symposium of the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University, Princeton NJ.
11 Apr 2000	Roundtable Discussant with Arthur L. Caplan on ‘The Frontiers of Biomedicine.’ Willamette University, Salem OR.
24 Mar 2000	‘Just Talking, Talking Justice, and Talking in Jest: Plato's Republic and Dialogic Ethics.’ Western Political Science Association, San Jose, CA.
17 Mar 2000	‘‘We are in strange hands, and things are come to a strange passe’: Thomas Edwards' Gangraena (1646) and related work.’ Histories of Heresy 1640-1800, William Clark Library, UCLA Center for 17th- & 18th-Century Studies, Los Angeles, CA.

20 Mar 1998	Chair, Panel: ‘Gandhi's Legacy Examined.’ Western Political Science Association, Los Angeles, CA.
19 Mar 1998	‘Winstanley and Dispossessed Individualism: Teaching Subjects in Seventeenth-Century England.’ Western Political Science Association, Los Angeles, CA.
8-11 Jan 1998	Invited Participant in ‘Liberty and Toleration in the Thought of Locke and Bayle.’ Liberty Fund International Conference, Seattle, WA.

29 Aug 1997	‘Trading Punches for Punch-Lines: Dialogic Ethics and the Virtue of Humor.’ American Political Science Association, Washington DC.
28 Aug 1997	‘Thomas Hobbes and Civil War Radicalism.’ American Political Science Association, Washington DC.
13 May 1997	‘Being Odd or Getting Even: Liberal Communitarianism and the English 'Revolution'.’ Political Science Colloquium, U. of Hawaii at Manoa, HI.
24 Apr 1997	Invited Participant in ‘Early Theories and Practices of Toleration in Comparative Perspective.’ UC International Faculty Seminar, UC Riverside, CA.
13 Mar 1997	‘Communitarian Politics and the Limitations of the Strange: lessons from the English 'Revolution'.’ Western Political Science Association, Tucson, AZ.
13 Mar 1997	Chair, Panel: ‘Rousseau Revived.’ Western Political Science Assoc., Tucson, AZ.

16 Mar 1996

‘A Funny Thing Didn't Happen on the Way to Liberalism: The Virtue of Humor,.’ Western Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA.

20 Oct 1995	‘Life, Levity, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Liberalism and the Indispensability of Humor.’ Political Science/Philosophy Colloquia, U. of Wash., Seattle, WA.
14 Oct 1995	‘The Uses of Political Theory: Traveling Roads not Taken.’ Homecoming Weekend Mini-Session, Alumni Relations, Willamette U., Salem, OR.
6 Jun 1995	‘Liberalism & the Propriety of Self-Ownership.’ Canadian Political Science Association, Montréal, QC, Canada.

13 Jun 1994	‘Modernity, Liberalism, and their Late-Modern Critique: Max Stirner's Ego.’ Canadian Political Science Association, Calgary, AB, Canada.
12 Jun 1994	Discussant, Panel: ‘Postmodern(isms).’ Canadian Political Science Association, U. of Calgary, AB, Canada.
26 Feb 1994	‘Science as Source in the History of Western Political Thought.’ Oregon Academy of Science, Corvallis, OR.

4 Sept 1993

‘Self-Ownership and the Language of Liberal Individualism in Seventeenth-Century England.’ American Political Science Association, Washington DC.

13 Nov 1992	‘The Rebellious Roots of Liberalism: Étienne de La Boétie on Tyranny.’ Northeastern Political Science Association, Providence, RI.
5 Sep 1992	‘The Irrationality of the Tyrannical State: Étienne de La Boétie on Voluntary Servitude.’ American Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
31 May 1992	‘The Origins of Liberalism: the Place of Étienne de La Boétie.’ Canadian Political Science Association, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada.

8 Mar 1990

‘A Plea for Toleration in Matters Historical: The Case of Niccolò Machiavelli.’ City U. of NY Political Science Conference: Historical Perspectives on Politics, New York, NY.

BOOK/ARTICLE MANUSCRIPT REVIEWS

Canadian Journal of Political Science
Comparative Studies in Society and History
Death Studies
Political Theory
Polity

GRANTS & AWARDS

2008 – 09	Sabbatical Leave: full release at 75% salary
2008 – 09	Willamette University Center for Ancient Studies & Archaeology Faculty Fellowship: $4000
2007 – 08	Government of Canada Canadian Studies Program Enhancement Grant: $4000
2006 – 07	Government of Canada Canadian Studies Program Enhancement Grant: $4000
2006	Jerry E. Hudson Award for Excellence in Teaching

2005	Willamette University W.M. Keck Foundation Grant for Professional Enhancement
2005	Willamette University Atkinson Fund Faculty Development (Research) Award: $2500

2002 – 03

Department of Education PT3/Oregon Technology in Education Network (OTEN) Consortium sub-grant as Social Studies Lead Faculty Member: $3500 + $1000.

2001 – 02	Willamette University Faculty Achievement Award for excellence in teaching and service.
2001	National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship Award: "A Liberal Theory of Self-Ownership: Richard Overton and the English 'Revolution'": $24000
2000 – 01	Sabbatical Leave: full release at 75% salary