Changes

I am interested in graduate study in the field of [[political ]] [[theory ]] because I

In my [[past ]] [[work]], I have sought to demonstrate the immense potential of [[Lacanian ]] [[thought ]] to invigorate the consideration of the political.I have developed a strong [[theoretical ]] background in [[Marx]], [[Nietzsche]], and [[Freud]], and have sought to incorporate the specific critical and historical [[analyses ]] of [[modernity ]] into my approach political theory.

My past work has explored the implications of post-[[structuralist ]] theory for [[politics]].I have sought to apply post-structuralist [[thinking ]] to central [[conceptual ]] [[categories ]] in politics, showing how these might be rethought and taken in new directions.I believe that a poststructuralist approach can shed new light on topics such as [[liberalism]], rights, [[power]], idelogy, [[ethics]], [[subjectivity]], [[sovereignty]], [[violence]], and collective [[identity]].I explore how poststurcturalist theoretical perspectives allow an interrogation of the discursive and conceptual limits of these [[ideas]], revealing their heterogenities, paradoxes and contradictions, adn thus showing how they might be [[reinterpreted]].

In my sophomore year, I enrolled in a graduate-level [[seminar ]] on democratic theory.I began to study modern and contemporary democratic theory in my undergraduate studies at Cornell [[University]].In my sophomore year, I was anxious to engage with more advanced work in political theory and thus [[chose ]] to enroll in a graduate seminar on democratic theory.In this field, my [[particular ]] interests range from modern and contemporary democratic theory and the [[history ]] of the [[liberal ]] and republican traditions (and their critics) to [[critical theory]], continental [[philosophy]], and post-[[Marxist]], post-structuralist, and (Lacanian) [[psychoanalytic ]] theories, etc.

In this program, I hope to draw from my background in both nineteenth and twentieth century critical and continental thought (including post-Marxist, post-structuralist and [[psychoanalytic theory]]) in developing new approaches to urgent topics confronting political theory today.

In my work, I have tried to demonstrate how a political theorist might employ the insights of thinkers such as Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud in [[order ]] to interrogate critically [[formations ]] of power, political identity, [[citizenship ]] and political subjectivities in contemporary liberal democracies.I believe that one can employ the insights of Marx, Nietzsche, Freud t interrogate critically formations of power, political identity, citizenship, and [[political subjectivity ]] in contemporary liberal democracies.

My senir [[thesis ]] focuses on the [[relationship ]] of political sovereignty to [[global ]] [[capital ]] and [[other ]] transnational forcesMy most [[recent ]] research focuses on the [[concept ]] of political sovereignty as it is connected to [[globalization ]] and other transnational forces.

My senior thesis focuses on key themes in political [[theology]], such as sovereignty and the [[state ]] of exception, and engages with contemporary thinkers, such as Carl [[Schmitt]], Walter [[Benjamin]], Jacques [[Derrida]], Giorgio [[Agamben]], [[Alain ]] [[Badiou ]] and Slavoj [[Zizek]].In my senior thesis, I draw from contemporary thinkers in order to approach the issues of sovereignty and the relation between law and violence (especially with [[regard ]] to the foundation and preservation of the former) which I believe are

Ultimately, I hope to achieve an academic [[position ]] in a Political [[Science ]] department, where I will conduct research and teach (politics) at a college level.

The Ph.D. program at Berkeley is uniquely equipped to [[guide ]] me toward these objectives.