Testimonials
"This program provided an extraordinary introduction to French political thought. Hearing from world-class experts, journalists, and practitioners, I learnt more in a week than I did in semester-long seminars on the topic. Socially and intellectually, this program offers ideal conditions and unmatched opportunities."
"Academia Tocqueville provides the singular opportunity to network with like-minded students, have formative discussions with preeminent scholars, and meet important religious and public figures in both the French and American traditions. It is of genuine appeal to anyone interested in the history of political thought, contemporary politics, or religion."
"This isn't your standard American-style study abroad in Paris. You'll learn about the French Right from some of the most impressive thinkers in the tradition, have important conversations about the future of the conservatism in the western world, and visit extraordinary places that will inspire you to do more than just file your notes away after returning home"
"Tocqueville Academia prepared me to think more deeply about the perennial questions that France has grappled with since the Revolution. There is something for everyone -- engagement with current policymakers, discussions with leading academics, excursions into sites of historical importance and of beauty, and stimulating late night conversations with new friends!"
"I had no idea how vibrant the French conservative tradition actually was and continues to be in the Western world. There is a temptation to pigeonhole the entire tradition in the 18-19th centuries. It surprised me to discover just how alive the Right is in France and how it has evolved over time without losing sight of its heritage, as unfortunately has happened in the Anglosphere. I left encouraged by the potential for growth and cross-cultural collaboration across the Atlantic."
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Featured Seminars
Tocqueville in the French Context
Montesquieu and the Characteristics of French Liberalism
Natural Law: the Rock
Louis de Bonald: Interpreting the Post- Revolutionary World
Joseph de Maistre on Constitution-Making
Nationalism: Between Revolution and Counter-Revolution
In Search of the Power to Govern: From Necker to De Gaulle
Masterclass on the Thought of Raymond Aron
The Legacy of Blaise Pascal
Former Guest Speakers
Thibault Barbieux researches the history of Public Law, especially sovereignty and local liberties in the French Old Regime. A legal historian, he received his Ph.D from Université Clermont Auvergne. His thesis focused on the idea and reality of political contracts between the Crown and French provinces (16th-18th century), and was awarded the "Prix Joinet" (from the Institut Francophone pour la Justice et la Démocratie).
François-Henri Briard is a lawyer and barrister at the Conseil d’Etat and Cour de cassation. He studied at Panthéon-Assas Université and is a long-standing supporter of French-American friendship. He has been administrator of the Sarah Lawrence University, NY, and is member of the Historical Society of the Supreme Court as well as an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati. He serves in the French military as a member of the Naval Reserve.
Romain Debluë holds a doctorate in philosophy from Sorbonne-Paris IV University. His thesis was on the knowledge of being in Thomas Aquinas and Hegel. In addition to a number of articles in various periodicals, he has published a collection of essays on literature, philosophy and music (Les Métamorphoses de Protée, Via Romana, 2013), a novel (Les Solitudes profondes, Éditions de l'Aire, 2016), and a study entitled Hegel ou le Festin de Saturne (Beauchesne, 2019). He is also responsible for the edition of Bernanos' essays published in the 'Bouquins' collection (Scandale de la vérité, Robert Laffont, 2019). Finally, he is preparing an edition of the complete works of Blanc de Saint-Bonnet for Classiques-Garnier, and his second novel (La Chasse au Cerf, Éditions de L'Aire, 2023) has just been published in Switzerland.
Daniel J. Mahoney is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and professor emeritus at Assumption University. His most recent books are The Statesman as Thinker: Portraits of Greatness, Courage, and Moderation and Recovering Politics, Civilization, and the Soul: Essays on Pierre Manent and Roger Scruton. He has written books on such French thinkers and statesmen as Raymond Aron, Bertrand de Jouvenel, and Charles de Gaulle. He is also a specialist on the thought and art of the Russian Nobel laureate and anti-totalitarian writer and moral witness Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Françoise Melonio, professor emeritus of Sorbonne University and Doctor of Letters, is the editor of Tocqueville’s collected works. She has taught in secondary schools, and has been a professor at Nanterre, at the Sorbonne, and at Sciences Po. She was deputy director of the ENS (Ulm) and director of studies and schooling at Sciences Po. She has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago and has served as President of the Tocqueville Society. She is a member of the board of the Tocqueville Foundation and of the editorial board of The Tocqueville Review. She is preparing an intellectual biography of Tocqueville, to be published by Gallimard.
His Excellency, Bishop Matthieu Rougé, was ordained in 1994 and has held his current ministry since 2018. He obtained his doctorate in Theology with Summa cum laude and taught Theology in Spain and Paris, in the Collège des Bernardins. He is a member of the Fondation Charles-de-Gaulle.
Céline Spector is Professor at the Philosophy Department of Sorbonne University. Her research includes work in modern and contemporary political theory, especially the French Enlightenment, Montesquieu, Rousseau and their legacy. Among her recent publications: Rousseau (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2019) ; Rousseau et la critique de l’économie politique (Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 2017) ; Rousseau (Polity Press, 2019) ; Rousseau et Locke. Dialogues critiques, with J. Lenne-Cornuez (Oxford University Studies on the Enlightenment, Liverpool University Press, 2022); Émile. Rousseau et la morale expérimentale (Vrin, 2022).
Pierre Valentin holds a BA in Philosophy and Politics from the University of Exeter and is completing an MA in Political Science at the University of Paris II, Pantheon-Assas. In July 2021, he published his first study of woke ideology for the think tank Fondapol. He will publish his book, Comprendre la Révolution Woke, with Gallimard in the Fall.
Pierre-Hugues Barré is a PhD Candidate in Law at the University of Toulouse, a lecturer in Constitutional Law at Sciences Po Paris, and an academic visitor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford. He has been an invited lecturer at Masaryk University (Czech Republic). A graduate from the Sorbonne in Law, Philosophy, Theology, History and Political Science, his main topic of research is secularism and jurisprudence. He has clerked for the Cour administrative d'appel de Versailles, the Tribunal administratif de Paris and the Court of Appeals for the Second District in the State of Florida. His articles have appeared in IM1776 and Law & Liberty.
François-Xavier Bellamy is a European MEP elected in 2010 as the leader of the Les Républicains list for the elections. He is a Philosophy teacher and studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, after having spent two years of preparatory classes at Lycée Henri IV. He launched a series of conferences, Les soirées de la Philo, that take place on a weekly basis on various philosophical subjects. He wrote several books, among which Les Déshérités, analysing the Western and French cultural crisis as a failure to transmit an inheritance..
Rémi Brague is a philosopher and historian of philosophy, and a writer. He is an Emeritus Professor at La Sorbonne Université. After having studied mediaeval philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure, he focused on Christianity and intellectual history, comparing the evolution of the three monotheistic religions. He is Officer of the Légion d’honneur and member of the Institut de France, and has received multiple awards for his writings.
Greg Conti is assistant professor of Politics at Princeton University. His research focuses on the history of modern political thought, especially in Britain and France, and on the lessons that can be drawn from that history for contemporary debates in political philosophy. His book Parliament the Mirror of the Nation: Representation, Deliberation, and Democracy in Victorian Britain was released by Cambridge University Press in 2019 (paperback, 2020). He holds a BA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Harvard University. He has also been a fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge.
Giulio de Ligio is a Lecturer at the Université Catholique de l’Ouest after having graduated from the University of Bologna with a doctorate in Political Thought. He is an associated researcher at the EHESS and the Centre Maurice Hauriou, and has taught at Sciences Po Paris. His research focuses on political thought, philosophy and sociology.
Edouard Martin is a PhD candidate at Université Paris-Saclay, where his research relates to the field of mediaeval public law. He read Law at Panthéon-Assas Université (BA) before studying at Oxford University and Sciences Po Paris, where he obtained a MA in Public Affairs. He focuses particularly on the history of European Church-State ties.
Étienne Perrin is a lawyer admitted to the Brussels bar, holding degrees in European and Competition Law from Paris Saclay and Pau Universities, and is an avowed cinephile. He especially enjoys German expressionism, Italian neorealism and directors such as Douglas Sirk, Akira Kurosawa and Bertrand Tavernier.
His Excellency, Bishop Antoine de Romanet was ordained in 1995 and was appointed Bishop to the French Military by Pope Francis in 2017. He studied Law and graduated from Sciences Po Paris.
Armand Rouvier is a PhD candidate at the EHESS under Patrice Gueniffey. He studies the intellectual history of conservatism and the history of French and British political thought. He is the author of a widely-reviewed book on the history and relevance of French conservatism: Peut-on encore être conservateur ? Histoire d’une idée incomprise en France (Buchet Chastel, 2023).
Laëtitia Strauch-Bonart is a writer and journalist. After preparatory classes at Henri IV, she was accepted at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and later graduated in Public Affairs at Sciences Po Paris. An expert in the thought of the late Sir Roger Scruton, she translated one of his works as De l’urgence d’être conservateur, 2016. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Opinion pages of L’Express, a weekly newspaper.
Academia Tocqueville 2023 students
Teresa Angulo
Teresa Angulo is currently a dual degree master's student in Public Policy and Public Administration at Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University, where she specializes in Management and Public Affairs (Sciences Po) and International Security Policy and Gender (Columbia). She is a Graduate Fellow at the Center for a Secure Free Society in Washington, D.C., and has a double B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of the Americas Puebla. Teresa co-authored the e-book: ¿Cabemos las mujeres panistas en el feminismo contemporaneo? ("Do the women of the National Action Party fit into contemporary feminism?") (2023).
Andre Brilliant
Andre Brilliant is an undergraduate student at Stanford University currently studying Classics on a Greek and Latin language track. Recently, he has recently researched the fall of Constantinople, and enjoys playing tennis and salsa dancing.
Tyler Castle
Tyler Castle is PhD student in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, with concentrations in constitutional studies and political theory. His core interests are in Christian political thought and its compatibility with liberal democracy and political moderation. Previously, Tyler spent nearly a decade at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, where he directed its Initiative on Faith & Public Life and contributed to its broader academic outreach efforts.
Chloe Ezzo
Chloe Ezzo is a graduating senior on track to graduate summa cum laude from Dartmouth College with a degree in French and Russian. She was the President of the Dartmouth Republicans and most recently hosted an event with Chloe Cole, a young detransitioner who is speaking out about the lack of informed consent in gender affirming care. Chloe plans to continue her research with Dr. Mikhail Gronas to develop a free speech social media platform to facilitate open debates online. Chloe is also a freelance journalist and has been published in several outlets including The College Fix, The Chicago Thinker, and The Wall Street Journal.
Mendel Jacobson
Mendel Jacobson, a New York City native, serves as Director of the Truman Scholars Program and Chief of Staff of the Lobel Center for Jewish Classical Education at the Tikvah Fund. He graduated from rabbinical school in 2020 and has completed fellowships with the Public Interest Fellowship, the Tikvah Fund, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Hertog Foundation. He will be attending law school this fall.
Gabriel Ozuna
Gabriel Ozuna is an alumnus of Yale University '16 and a graduate student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley studying frontier and borderlands history. He is particularly interested in 19th-century Catholic politics in the United States and Latin America and is writing his master's thesis on the contributions of French Catholic missionaries to the Texas-Mexico borderlands. His professional background includes public history, education policy, and historic preservation.
Jack Bevacqua
Jack Bevacqua is a PhD student in constitutional studies and political theory and a University Presidential Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. His research interests include early and late modern political thought, religion and politics, French political thought, and the history of political thought.
Edward Campbell
Edward Campbell is a first year Ph.D candidate in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, focusing in Constitutional Studies and Political Theory. Before coming to Notre Dame, Edward earned a BA with highest honors in Political Science and Classical Languages and Cultures from Vanderbilt University, where he wrote his honors thesis on the intellectual origins of the Federalist Society.
Maria Cortez
Maria Cortez holds a BA in History from Columbia University, an MSt in History from the University of Oxford, and a Master's (1 and 2) in Political Behaviour from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). Her qualitative and ethnographic research investigates cultural backlash theory, reactionary antimodernist thought, and the diverse political attitudes and psychology of young far-right activists and voters in France.
Kaila Hall
Kaila Hall is a rising junior studying Government and French at Cornell University. This summer, she is interning in the United States Congress and working with the House Judiciary Committee. Previously, she participated in the James Madison Program Seminar on the Theory and Practice of Statesmanship at Princeton University.
Jeffrey Liu
Jeffrey Liu completed a BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He is currently reading for an MPhil in Politics and International Studies where he has focused on International Law and Political Theory, and will start a DPhil in Politics this fall. His research examines the political and legal thought of Carl Schmitt and how it relates to debates surrounding the environment.
Aramis L. Perez
Aramis L. Perez is an independent communications and strategy consultant with experience in advocacy, culture, and arts, as well as financial services. He serves as the Miami Coordinator for National Review Institute's Burke to Buckley Fellowship. Aramis holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard and is the Founder of the Miami-based Floreat Center, launching in the Fall of 2023.
Mathis Bitton
Mathis Bitton is an incoming political theory PhD student at Harvard. He is interested in contemporary Chinese thought, liberalism and its critics, and the politics of technology. Born in France, raised in the UK and New Zealand, he has worked on French political campaigns and at American think tanks. His writings have appeared in National Review, The Wall Street Journal, First Things, and Quillette, among others. He graduated from Yale College with a BA in Political Science.
Paul Carpenter
Paul Carpenter holds a BA in History from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (Hon.), and is currently studying Religion at Lyon University. He is also interning at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy in the Preventing Violent Extremism section, where he conducts research on the impact of religion on the Ukrainian and Russian diasporas. Next year, he will enter the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes' Religious Sciences graduate program to prepare a thesis on human rights in Jacques Maritain's diplomatic career.
Michael DeFelice
Michael DeFelice serves as the Conferences and Development Coordinator for the Thomistic Institute, a part of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, where he is also completing a Masters in Theology. He studied Philosophy at Georgetown University, where he received the department's Ryan Medal. In college, he served on the board of the Tocqueville Forum Student Fellows and as Outreach Coordinator for the Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life.
Brandon Hoang
Brandon Hoang is a graduating senior who studied International Relations at Stanford University, where he also wrote an honors thesis about French and Italian Christian democratic parties with the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. He served as the Co-President and head of undergraduate faith formation ministry with the Catholic Undergraduate Student Association on campus. In his spare time, he also enjoyed writing for the Stanford Review and for Stanford Vox Clara.
Blake Mueller
Blake Mueller is a fourth-generation Oklahoman. He recently completed his degree in History at Columbia College, and plans on attending law school after working for a few years.
