Hagel Discusses Authenticity Claims in Democratic Life

Nina Hagel, assistant professor of government, is a political theorist whose research focuses on questions of freedom, recognition, resistance, and democratic belonging. She often teaches courses on contemporary political theory, the history of political thought, and feminist political theory. She is working on a book manuscript on the meanings and political value of authenticity claims.

In March 2021, she gave a virtual talk called “Right-Wing Populism and the Dangers of Authenticity” at the University of Alabama as part of the Political Science Department’s Colloquium.

She also presented at the Conference on Philosophy and Social Science in Prague, Czech Republic in May 2020, virtually. Her presentation was called “Rousseau and the Stakes of Authenticity.”

Hagel was additionally invited to speak (virtually) at the Pioneer Valley Political Theory Workshop, in Northampton, Massachusetts in April 2021; present at the Association for Political Theory’s conference in Northampton, Massachusetts in November 2020; and give a talk at the University of Connecticut’s Political Theory Workshop in October 2020.

Moreover, Hagel served as a panel discussant in an “Author Meets Critics” panel for American Incest: An Undercover Politics of White Supremacy by John Seery at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association.

At Wesleyan, Hagel received the Center for the Humanities (CHUM) Faculty Fellowship for the fall of 2021, in addition to a grant from Academic Affairs to fund a book conference.

In the fall, she will teach CHUM 376-01: Subjection, Contract, Consent.