Overview
Prof. Buck initially encountered questions related to political theory (What is freedom? What is justice?) as a member of his high school debate team, and he has been asking them ever since. Similarly, his interest in environmental and social justice issues began with his involvement in advocacy organizations as a senior in high school as well as throughout his college experience. The opportunity to pursue these passions together through teaching and research amongst a community of intellectually curious students and colleagues is what brought him to St. Lawrence in the first place. Grateful for the way in which the professors he had as an undergraduate sharpened his critical thinking skills, Prof. Buck strives to have the same impact on the St. Lawrence students enrolled in his courses.
In addition to teaching Introduction to Political Theory every semester, Prof. Buck offers the following seminars on regular basis: Ecology and Political Thought, Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence, and Comparative Environmental Politics.
Prof. Buck has published articles in the journals Sartre Studies International and Environmental Politics, as well as in The Encyclopedia of Political Thought (Wiley-Blackwell 2014). He is currently working on a book manuscript that explains how the method of critical theory can contribute to the revitalization of environmental movements in times of crisis.
Outside of the classroom Prof. Buck enjoys cycling, baking, playing Scrabble, and singing karaoke.
PhD
MA
BA
Examples of my work as a visiting scholar or guest at another institution:
Presentations, Exhibitions, Performances and Published Work:
- “Exchange Value,” “Fordism,” and “Political Ecology.” Encyclopedia entries in Michael T. Gibbons (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Political Thought. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).
- “The Utopian Content of Reification: Adorno’s Critical Social Theory of Nature.” In Crina Archer, Laura Ephraim, and Lida Maxwell (eds.), Second Nature: Rethinking the Natural Through Politics (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013).
- “Postenvironmentalism: An Internal Critique.” Environmental Politics, Vol. 22, No. 6 (November 2013), pp. 883-900.
- “Fanon, Sartre, and the Case for Slavery Reparations,” Sartre Studies International, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Fall 2004), pp. 123-38.
Regularly Taught Courses:
- GOVT 206(W): Introduction to Political Theory
- GOVT 291 SEM: Comparative Environmental Politics Research Seminar
- GOVT 343: Ecology and Political Thought
- GOVT 345: Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence
Sample Student Projects Supervised:
- "The Religious Individual: A Kierkegaardian Solution to the Problem of Advanced Industrial Society"