In its first four years as an academic program, the Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government has formed and provided outstanding support to students at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Notably, the CCCG has contributed to nine academic placements of PhD students in constitutional studies and political theory. After completing postdoctoral fellowships at Notre Dame, these students went on to serve as professors at universities around the country, holding leadership positions at acclaimed institutions promoting democracy and the common good.
JOHN PETRAKIS
Recent graduate John Petrakis (‘25) noted the vast formation the CCCG offered as “indispensable in preparing me for my current responsibilities.” Specifically, Petrakis benefitted from courses with excellent faculty, attending lectures by distinguished guest speakers, and engaging in thoughtful, daily conversation with his peers. He wrote his dissertation on the jurisprudence of euthanasia and assisted suicide in a variety of constitutional systems, and is currently working on publishing it as a series of academic articles. Petrakis recently arrived at Hillsdale College as a tenure-track assistant professor of politics.
RAUL RODRIGUEZ
Raul Rodríguez, who received his doctorate in political theory in 2020, wrote that “[t]he invaluable support and mentorship I received from Dr. Muñoz and the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government has been a cornerstone of my academic success. Without question, the CCCG is America’s premier center for the theory and practice of modern constitutionalism. The rigorous education in the founding ideals of American constitutional democracy offered to me continues to inform my teaching and scholarship.” Rodríguez is an assistant professor at Michigan State University, and also serves as the Director of its LeFrak Forum. He remarked that he “[strives] to offer my students the same unmatched formation and opportunities I was privileged to receive at Notre Dame.” Rodríguez’s current book project, Redeeming Democracy: Tocqueville’s New Liberalism, examines the foundations of Alexis de Tocqueville's political philosophy and demonstrates his enduring importance for the maintenance and perpetuation of American constitutional liberty.
ZACHARY GERMAN
Zachary German completed his PhD in 2018, when what would become the CCCG was known as Constitutional Studies and the Tocqueville Program. German noted the interdisciplinary nature of the CCCG’s formation as helpful to his future work: “The Constitutional Studies program enabled me to focus on American political thought and constitutionalism, while giving me the chance, with Political Theory as my second subfield, to study the history of political thought beyond the American context.” This preparation was “particularly well suited for [his] work in two programs of civic thought — first in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, and now in the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.” German’s research consults political theory, the American civic tradition, and early modern thought for insight into three key ingredients of a healthy constitutional order: the character of institutions, the character of leaders, and the character of citizens.
MELODY GRUBAUGH
Melody Grubaugh completed her PhD in 2022 in Constitutional Studies and Political Theory at Notre Dame. Grubaugh is currently a Lecturer at the School of Civil Life and Leadership at UNC, where she teaches courses on American literature, politics, and the American character. In addition, Grubaugh is an editor at the Mercy Otis Warren Initiative at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. She is grateful for the formation the CCCG offered her: “Even though my own dissertation research focused on medieval political thought, my involvement in the CCCG helped me to seriously consider questions of the American founding and what makes America unique, which have been enormously influential on my teaching since (not to mention, I'm grateful to the CCCG for providing the computer I wrote my dissertation on!).”
TYLER THOMAS
Tyler Thomas completed his PhD in Political Theory at Notre Dame in 2021 and went on to Emory University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. He is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. His studies at Notre Dame were supported by a language grant from the CCCG to study French in Tours, France during the summer of 2019. He is currently working on a research project on French philosopher René Descartes and his ideas of public advancement of the sciences. Thomas praised the CCCG’s academic excellence and community: “The CCCG is one of the brightest spots at Notre Dame. It combines an excellent yearly speaker series with academic support for both undergraduate and graduate students. I appreciated the financial support of my French language studies, which has benefited my research after Notre Dame, but the best part of the CCCG is the community it has created on campus."
DEBBIE O’MALLEY
Debbie O’Malley completed her PhD in Political Science from Baylor University. After serving as the Associate Director of the CCCG for two years, O’Malley is now an Assistant Professor in the Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership at the University of Toledo.
She credits the CCCG faculty and staff for helping her prepare for her position at the University of Toledo: “[Professor Muñoz] guided me through every step of the process and hosted practice job interviews for me, inviting other Center faculty, staff, and fellows to provide feedback. Even the students helped me to prepare! Several CCCG students, along with co-director Don Stelluto, allowed me to do a practice teaching demonstration for them and gave me invaluable advice afterwards." She is currently working on a paper titled “Democracy of the Dead? Thomas Jefferson v. James Madison on Constitutional Endurance and Constitutional Change,” a project which she had the privilege of delivering as a lecture at Oxford University.
The Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University is one of five civic education institutes established in Ohio’s public universities. Its offerings mirror those of the CCCG and seek scholars who have experience in the kind of programs that the CCCG offers to its students, faculty, and the community; thus, Dr. O’Malley’s experience with the CCCG was essential to securing her position at Toledo. She added, “At the University of Toledo, I have been privileged to help develop a student program very similar to CCCG's Tocqueville Program. We have already had numerous evening colloquia and student discussions with our guest speakers… the CCCG is helping to shape young citizens well beyond the Notre Dame community.”
MICHAEL HAWLEY
After earning his PhD in political science from Duke University in 2017, Michael Hawley joined the University of Notre Dame for a postdoctoral year. During his time at Notre Dame, he transformed his dissertation into his first book, Natural Law Republicanism: Cicero’s Liberal Legacy. Hawley credits Notre Dame’s faculty—especially Michael Zuckert, Catherine Zuckert, and Walter Nicgorski—for their invaluable mentorship and feedback: “Their advice immeasurably improved the book. That work, in turn, helped me secure a tenure-track position.” He is now at work on his second book, Preaching to the Choir, which examines the perils of divisive political rhetoric.
KEVIN VANCE
After receiving his doctorate in Constitutional Theory and Political Theory from the University of Notre Dame in January 2018, Kevin Vance went on to complete postdoctoral fellowships at the James Madison Program at Princeton University and at the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism. He recently entered his fourth year as Director and Associate Professor for the Center for Constitutional Liberty at Benedictine College.
Reflecting on his time at Notre Dame, Vance emphasizes the lasting influence of the Constitutional Studies PhD program and the CCCG on his professional and intellectual development: “I am extremely grateful to the CCCG for the one-of-a-kind PhD program in constitutional studies that gives graduate students an opportunity to integrate legal philosophy and interpretation with the study of constitutionalism and the American political project. In addition to the academic program in the constitutional studies subfield, the professional development opportunities offered by the CCCG and the Tocqueville Program provided me with the chance to interact with top scholars in the field and to work on research with the director.”
Vance adds that his time at the CCCG directly shaped the vision he now brings to Benedictine College. “The CCCG has been the model for me at the Center for Constitutional Liberty at Benedictine College in terms of fostering a dialogue between American constitutionalism and politics and the Catholic intellectual tradition.”
ABBY THOMAS
Abby Thomas received her doctorate in Political Science at Notre Dame in 2023 after defending a dissertation titled “Aristotle on Pleasure and Prudence in the Nicomachean Ethics.” She went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the James Madison Program at Princeton. Thomas is currently Assistant Professor in the School for Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. In addition to teaching courses in classical political thought, she is completing a book manuscript about the political and pedagogic importance of pleasure and pain for the education of children in classical political thought. She credits the CCCG for the friendships, intellectual community, and direct support that sustained her during graduate studies. “In addition to the friendships and general support that I received from the CCCG during graduate school, I am particularly grateful to the CCCG for subsidizing multiple summers of language-study. With the Center’s support, I spent three summers studying Ancient Greek at the Latin/Greek Institute in NYC and the Paideia Institute in Greece.”
Learn more about the graduate education opportunities offered by the CCCG on our website.