Lori Carsen Kelly ’83Alumni and Faculty

Dr. Lori Carsen Kelly graduated summa cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College, earning her B.A. in 1983 with a major in political science and a minor in psychology. She did her graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York where she was twice awarded a President's Fellowship. At Columbia University, Lori earned her M.A. in 1986, her M.Phil in 1988, and her Ph.D. in Political Theory in 1992, with distributionals in American government and political sociology. Her dissertation, "After Religion: Christianity, Politics, and the Search for Objectivity in the Thought of Alasdair MacIntyre," focused on religious influences within communitarian political thought. Among her interests are communitarian theory, virtue ethics, non-violent resistance, and constitutional interpretation. Lori taught at Columbia University, Fordham University, and Queens College (City University of New York--Graduate Division) before coming to Gustavus as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 1992. At Gustavus, she teaches courses in political and legal thinking, ancient and modern political thought, jurisprudence, feminist political thought, and resistance theory, as well as the course, Individual and Society, within the Three Crowns Curriculum. She contributes to the gender, women, and sexuality studies major and the peace studies minor. Lori received the Swenson-Bunn Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, an honor bestowed by students, in 2011. In June 2012, Lori was named the Director of the Three Crowns Curriculum, an alternative path for completing general education requirements at Gustavus, a position she maintained until 2018. If you are interested in learning more about this signature inter-disciplinary program, the Three Crowns Curriculum: Connections, Ideas, and Values, please visit its website at gustavus.edu/threecrowns/.

Courses Taught