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The Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at the ³Ô¹ÏÍø of Colorado Boulder is pleased to announce its Visiting Scholars in Conservative Thought and Policy for the 2026-27 academic year. Jeremy Bailey has been appointed to a two-year term, and Joseph Bottum has been reappointed for a second year.

Jeremy Bailey joins the Benson Center from the ³Ô¹ÏÍø of Florida, where he is a professor at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education. He is a political scientist focused on American political thought, the American presidency, and constitutional development. His work on the legacy of the founding generation is fitting for the moment, as CU Boulder and the country mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

His forthcoming book, The Other Declarations: Thomas Jefferson and the Language of American Democracy (³Ô¹ÏÍø Press of Kansas, 2026), examines Jefferson's broader contributions to democratic language beyond the Declaration of Independence. He is also the author of The Idea of Presidential Representation: An Intellectual and Political History (³Ô¹ÏÍø Press of Kansas, 2019), James Madison and Constitutional Imperfection (Cambridge ³Ô¹ÏÍø Press, 2015), Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power (Cambridge ³Ô¹ÏÍø Press, 2010), and The Contested Removal Power, 1789-2010, coauthored with David Alvis and Flagg Taylor (³Ô¹ÏÍø Press of Kansas, 2013). His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Review of Politics, History of Political Thought, Presidential Studies Quarterly, American Political Thought, and Political Research Quarterly.

From 2021 to 2025, Bailey held the Sanders Chair in Law and Liberty at the ³Ô¹ÏÍø of Oklahoma, where he directed the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage. He previously served on the faculties of the ³Ô¹ÏÍø of Houston, Duquesne ³Ô¹ÏÍø, Eastern Washington ³Ô¹ÏÍø, and Washington and Lee ³Ô¹ÏÍø. He received his BA from Rhodes College and his PhD in political science from Boston College.

At CU Boulder, Bailey will teach courses on the American Founding and American political thought.

Joseph Bottum returns to the Benson Center for a second year as Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy. A poet, essayist, and literary critic, Bottum brings a distinctive perspective that spans philosophy, literature, and cultural commentary.

His latest book, This Far Country: South Dakota Lines on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, is forthcoming from the South Dakota Historical Society Press. He also co-founded the poetry newsletter Poems Ancient and Modern on Substack. His recent publications include Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh: A Christmas Chrestomathy (St. Augustine's Press, 2024) and Spending the Winter (St. Augustine's Press, 2022). Earlier works include The Decline of the Novel (St. Augustine's Press, 2019), An Anxious Age: The Post-Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of America (Image/Doubleday, 2014), The Christmas Plains (Image/Random House, 2012), and The Fall and Other Poems (St. Augustine's Press, 2001).

Bottum served as editor of First Things and as literary editor of the Weekly Standard. His writing has appeared in Crisis magazine, the Washington Free Beacon, the London Spectator, and the New York Sun. He held several appointments at Dakota State ³Ô¹ÏÍø from 2017 to 2024, including Director of the Classics Institute and Associate Professor of Philosophy. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant professor of philosophy at Loyola ³Ô¹ÏÍø in Maryland. He received his AB in philosophy from Georgetown ³Ô¹ÏÍø and his PhD in philosophy from Boston College.

In Fall 2025, Bottum will teach a course on "Philosophy and Poetry."

³Ô¹ÏÍø the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy

The Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy is a position within the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization. The position brings leading thinkers to CU Boulder to teach, engage with the campus community, and contribute to the Center's mission of fostering intellectual and ideological diversity and promoting the study of Western civilization.
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