Justin Ryan Hawkins

I am a PhD Candidate in the departments of Religious Studies and Political Science at Yale University, where I try to think about the relationship between Christian social ethics and political theory.

My dissertation is titled “Crowned with Glory and Honor: The Virtue of Magnanimity, and Its Discontents.” I attempt there to articulate an account of magnanimity, that most troublesome of virtues, which is historically informed without being nostalgic, that inspires human excellence without the cultivation of contempt, and that is a viable and attractive source of democratic agency.

In addition to pursuing that research agenda, I frequently lecture, teach, and supervise extracurricular reading groups. In 2023, I was named one of Yale’s Prize Teaching Fellows.