Michelle T. Clarke

|Associate Professor
Academic Appointments

Associate Professor of Government

My research focuses on the history of  political thought and especially the reception of classical ideas in Renaissance Florence.  I have a particular interest in Machiavelli's engagement with Roman political ideas.  I'm drawn to Machiavelli's thought because it reflects my own sense that political theory, done properly, refuses to abstract from the messy, inconvenient, and often distasteful realities of political life.  For Machiavelli, as for me, the work of political theory is to guide us through this world, mindful of the possibility that it may speak to us in a different voice than moral philosophy.  

Contact

Silsby, Room 205
HB 6108

Education

  • B.A. Tufts University
  • M.A. Yale University
  • M. Phil. Yale University
  • Ph.D. Yale University

Selected Publications

+ View more

Works In Progress

Rival Republicanisms: Machiavelli and the Ciceronian Tradition (book project, in progress)

The Oxford History of Political Thought: The Renaissance, 1400-1517 (book project, under contract)

"Style and the Soul in Renaissance Humanism" (article, in progress)