Kristen R. Collins
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I am a political theorist and Senior Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. I am also an Adjunct Lecturer at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, teaching "Communication for Data Science" and "Data Ethics."

My work
synthesizes the history of political and economic thought and contemporary democratic theory.
My research interests also include liberalism, critical theory,  the ethics and politics of technology, and feminist theory. My work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science and Political Theory. In my current book project, I examine the power dynamics of seeing and being seen, experiences central to our lives online and off, by retrieving models of spectatorship and surveillance from the history of political thought. Being seen exposes us to the scrutiny of others, but it can also empower us, as those on the public stage influence what others see, think, and feel. While the philosophical figures I study lived centuries ago, their insights resonate with questions of accountability, security, recognition, and privacy that twenty-first century technology renders newly urgent. 

I earned my PhD from Georgetown University's Department of Government in 2019. I also have a BA in International Relations from Tufts University, where I minored in Film Studies and Russian Language. Ethical and political questions I confronted learning documentary filmmaking in college continue to inspire my work. I'm a Jersey girl, photographer, and Simpsons fan (seasons 1-10).

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  • About
  • Publications
  • Book Manuscript
  • Public Engagement
  • CV