Colby College
4000 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, ME 04901
P: 207-859-4000
 
Joseph R. Reisert
Harriet S. Wiswell and George C. Wiswell Jr. Associate Professor of American Constitutional Law
Government- Department Chair


Office: Diamond 261
Phone: 207-859-5316
Fax: 859-5229
Email:

Mailing Address:
5316 Mayflower Hill
Waterville, Maine 04901-8853

Office Hours:
W: 1 - 3 p.m. and by appointment

Semester Schedule
Education

Ph.D. Harvard University, 1996
A.M. Harvard University, 1992
A.B. Princeton University, summa cum laude, 1989

Areas of Expertise:
  • History of political thought
  • Political philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  • American constitutional law and jurisprudence
Other Courses Taught
Course Course Title
GO 472 Topics in Political Theory: Tocqueville
GO 474 Seminar: Plato and Rousseau
GO 475 Seminar: Law Liberty and Morality
GO 271 Classical Political Theory
GO 313 Federalism in American Constitutional Law
Publications

My most recent book is Jean-Jacques Rousseau: A Friend of Virtue (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003). It argues that Rousseau's work offers a coherent political theory, centered on the ideal of virtue, that both complements and challenges key elements of contemporary liberalism.