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New Conservative Scholar, other visiting scholars join Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization

Colleen Sheehan, new visiting scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado Boulder

William B. Allen, returning Senior Scholar in Residence 

This fall, Colleen Sheehan, a professor of political science at Villanova University, will become the newest visiting scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization (CSWC).

As announced last week, the Center for Western Civilization, Thought & Policy changed its name to honor outgoing ���������� President Bruce Benson.

Sheehan will join William B. Allen, who will be returning to the CSWC for a second year, as a Senior Scholar in Residence for the 2019-20 academic year.

The CSWC is also announcing four other visiting scholars for the coming academic year, each looking at different aspects of Western Civilization: John Doody, Renaud-Phillippe Garner, David Yee and Scott Hill.

“As the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization has grown and matured over the last several years, it continues to attract top talent in the studies of culture, languages and ideas in Western tradition,” said Robert Pasnau, director of the center. “This new cohort of scholars will add to that mission with expertise in history, philosophy and political science.” 

Sheehan will be teaching two courses each semester. In the fall, she will be teaching a survey of the Western intellectual tradition, and a political science course on the Lincoln-Douglas debates. 

Sheehan says the Lincoln-Douglas debates are a favorite topic because of the nail-biting story and morals she sees as relevant to modern life.

“The principles at stake in pre-Civil War America are actually still at stake in America today,” Sheehan said. “And how we respond to the problems our nation is facing today is no less important than it was in 1860. I am excited to work with the students of ���������� Boulder on these critical questions and civic concerns.”

2019-20 CWCTP visiting scholar biographies:

Colleen Sheehan                                    
2019-20 Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy

Colleen A. Sheehan is professor of political science at Villanova University and director of the Matthew J. Ryan Center for Free Institutions and the Public Good. 

Sheehan has served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and was a Pennsylvania gubernatorial appointee to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, and to the Governor's Advisory Committee on Academic Standards. 

William B. Allen
Senior Scholar in Residence

William B. Allen is emeritus dean at James Madison College and emeritus professor of political philosophy at Michigan State University. Allen was the 2018-19 CWCTP Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy and is a Senior Scholar in Residence for 2019-20. 

Allen has served as chairman for the United States Commission on Civil Rights, as a member for National Council on the Humanities, as executive director on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, among other accolades.

(from L to R) Renaud-Philippe Garner, Jack Doody, Scott Hill, David Yee

John A. Doody holds the Robert M. Birmingham Chair in Humanities at Villanova University, where he serves as professor of philosophy. He is the director and founder of the Villanova Center for Liberal Education. Doody has served in numerous leadership positions during his career at Villanova University, including interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, acting chair of the Department of Humanities and Augustinian Traditions, chair and acting chair of the Department of Philosophy among other positions. 

Renaud-Philippe Garner
Bradley Scholar in Residence

Renaud-Philippe Garner holds a PhD in philosophy (2019) from the University of Toronto, where he is an instructor. His areas of specialization are ethics and political philosophy, with particular focus on the ethics of partiality and just war theory. 

David Yee
Scholar in Residence

Yee is an instructor at the Department of History at Stony Brook University, where he will receive his PhD in history in 2019. He holds an MA in U.S. history from the City College of New York and a BA in film and media arts from Temple University. Yee was a co-coordinator of the New York City Latin American History Workshop and in 2018 was awarded a fellowship on Land Policy and Urban Development in Latin American from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Scott Hill
Snider Scholar in Residence 

Scott Hill, who holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a BS in philosophy and mathematics from Kansas State University, is a lecturer at Auburn University. He is the co-author of "Beyond the Code: A Philosophical Guidebook for the Ethical Engineer" with Heidi Furey and Sujata Bhatia. His areas of specialization include ethics and philosophy of religion.