Stephen L. Esquith
Stephen L. Esquith is the dean of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Princeton University, where he received his Ph.D. in politics. He served as the chair of the MSU Department of Philosophy before becoming the founding dean of RCAH. Esquith received MSU's Teacher-Scholar Award in 1984 and the Honors College Distinguished Contributions to Honors Students Award for 2008-2009.
He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Poland and then later in Mali. He is the author of Intimacy and Spectacle (Cornell, 1994) and The Political Responsibilities of Everyday Bystanders (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010), the editor of several edited collections on democracy and development, and the author of numerous articles, most recently on children's human rights, democratic political education, and peace building. He is currently working on several local peace building projects in Mali and similar peace education projects for refugee children in Michigan. He has taught philosophy for children in middle schools in Michigan and Mali over the past fifteen years, and has facilitated the co-creation of four children’s picture books in French, Bamanankan, and English for a peace building project in Mali. He teaches courses in RCAH on civic engagement and political theory.
Recent Publications:
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"Civic Engagement's Challenges for Study Abroad: An Ethical and Political Perspective," in Crawford, P. & Berquist, B. Eds., Community Engagement Abroad: Perspectives and practices on service, engagement, and learning overseas (Michigan State University Press, 2020). |
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“The Ciwara Picture Book Project,” in Philosophy in Classrooms and Beyond: New Approaches to Picture-Book Philosophy, ed. Thomas Wartenberg (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) |
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“Peace Building, Political Reconciliation, and Human Security in Transitional Societies:The Localist Turn,” in Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics, eds. Jay Drydyk and Lori Keleher (Routledge, 2019) |
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“Ethics and Development during the Year of Global Africa,” The Engaged Scholar, Vol. 13, 2018 |
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The Political Responsibilities of Everyday Bystanders (Penn State University Press, 2010) |
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Capabilities, Power, and Institutions: Toward a More Critical Development Ethics, Stephen L. Esquith and Fred Gifford, eds. (Penn State University Press, 2010) |
Recent Courses Taught:
Spring 2021
RCAH 202: Peace Building
Fall 2020
RCAH 346: Repairs, Reparations, and Responsibilities
Spring 2019
RCAH 492: When Words Lose Their Meaning
Recent Recent Interviews and Media:
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"What Engaged Scholarship Looks Like," Chronicle of Higher Education's Teaching Newsletter, May 9, 2019. |
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"The anti-Engler," Lansing City Pulse, January 24, 2019 |
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"At Michigan State, a Disruptive Presidency That Few Could Muster the Will to End," The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 17, 2019 |
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"Can liberal education survive at a scandal-plagued university? A professor explains why it must." Washington Post, May 1, 2018 |
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Lansing City Pulse Radio Show: May 12, 2018; May 5, 2018; with Moussa Traore, January 21, 2015; January 7, 2015 |