ADAM KISSEL

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

601 Walnut Street, Suite 510

Philadelphia, PA 19106

(215) 717-3473

adam@thefire.org

Committee on Social Thought

University of Chicago

1130 East 59^th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

ahkissel@uchicago.edu

adamkissel@post.harvard.edu

EDUCATION

2003 ABD in Social Thought, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago.

2002 A.M. in Social Thought, Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago.

1994 A.B. cum laude in English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University.

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2010– Vice President of Programs, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Philadelphia, PA, Sept. 2010–present.

2007–2010 Director, Individual Rights Defense Program, FIRE.

1997– Professional and Developmental Editor. Projects in a wide variety of disciplines for Harvard, University of Chicago, and Boston University faculty including Nobel laureate in economics James Heckman, psychologist Stephen Kosslyn, rhetorician Wayne Booth, sociologist Donald Levine, and philosopher Jonathan Lear. Literary agent for Wayne Booth estate for Booth’s autobiography.

2006–2007 Director of Faculty and Program Development, Miller Center, and Director of Curriculum Development, Lehrman Center, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE.

2004–2005 Staff Assistant. Department of Sociology, Harvard University, for Michèle Lamont and Mary Brinton.

2004–05 Publishing Assistant. Perspectives, Newsletter of the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association.

1995–2004 Research Assistant to Donald Levine (1999–2004); Joseph Williams (1997–1998);
George H. Williams (full time, 1995–1996).

1999–2001 Student Liaison to the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago. Three terms.

1999–2001 Program Assistant. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Midwest Center, Chicago.

1997–98 Project Manager. For Prof. Ian Evison, Meadville-Lombard Theological School, Chicago (on behalf of three consortia of theological schools in Chicago, Boston, and Berkeley). Initiated and executed a survey of directors of theological consortia in the United States and Canada.

1996–97 Operations Manager. Boston Theological Institute (consortium of nine theological schools), Newton, MA (full time, 5/96 to 9/97).

1995–96 Editorial Intern. Boston Book Review, Cambridge, MA.

1995 Publications Specialist. Cambridge Publications, Brookline, MA.

1994–95 Senior Project Manager. Database Publishing Group, Cambridge, MA (full time). Supervised a staff of about 20.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Chicago

Spring 2007                 Guest Lecturer, Human Being and Citizen*

Autumn 2005              Lecturer, Human Being and Citizen, two sections*

2005–06                      Faculty Fellow, Vincent House, Burton-Judson Courts

2002–03; 2003–04      Writing Instructor and Teaching Assistant, Human Being and Citizen*

Spr. 2001; Spr. 2004    Teaching Assistant and Discussion Leader, The Organization of Knowledge**

Autumn 2003              Guest Lecturer, Conflict Theory and Aikido

Spring 2003                 Teaching Intern, Classics of Social and Political Thought***

         *general education core course for first-year students in the humanities

       **general education capstone course for fourth-year students in all fields

     ***general education core course for second-year students in the social sciences

Course completed on “Pedagogies of Writing,” Spring 2002.

Harvard University

2005–06                      Nonresident tutor in sociology, Lowell House.

University of Delaware

Spring 2009                 Guest Lecturer, Ethics and the Human Genome (course for Honors freshmen)

DISSERTATION

Deliberative Architectonic Rhetoric: A New Method for Resolving Interdisciplinary Conflicts.

Committee: Danielle Allen (Chair), Donald Levine, †Wayne Booth, Richard Buchanan.

Abstract: Interdisciplinary deliberations about a specific problem often depend on identifying its characteristics using a nondisciplinary framework. Deliberators can arrive at better decisions by employing a comprehensiveness criterion. I propose a method for such communication that integrates stasis theory from ancient rhetoric with contemporary work on rhetorical invention.

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

First Prize, National Awards for Education Reporting, National Education Writers Association, for “Please Report to Your Resident Assistant to Discuss Your Sexual Identity—It’s Mandatory!” 2009.

Philadelphia Society conference stipend, 2005.

Western Civilization Fellowship ($20,000), Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2004–05 and summer 2005.

Department nomination and first alternate, Benjamin Bloom Dissertation Fellowship, 2004.

Karen DiNal Memorial Award for teaching undergraduate academic writing, 2003.

Earhart Fellow, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05.

Institute for Humane Studies Fellow, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05.

Institute for Humane Studies Summer Research Fellow, 2002.

Conference travel stipends, Committee on Social Thought, April 1999, June 2002.

Full tuition and stipend fellowship, University of Chicago, 1998–2001.

ALSC conference travel stipends, 1997, 1998.

Hayward Scholarship, Harvard University, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94.

Malcolm Holmes Scholarship, Harvard University, 1990–91.

Stephen MacDiarmid Award, Harvard University, 1990.

PUBLICATIONS/JOURNALISM

2011            Higher education blogger for The Huffington Post.

2010a          “Syracuse Law School Gags Speech,” op-ed, New York Post (Dec. 20).

2010b          Pseudonymous literature review in an academic journal (2,000 words).

2010c          “Resolving Interdisciplinary Conflicts Using Ancient Heuristic Strategies,” Emerging Scholars Forum, Association for Integrative Studies Newsletter 32:3 (Oct.), 8–9.

2009a          “A Political Test for Teachers: U of Minnesota’s Ed-School Travesty,” op-ed, New York Post (Dec. 28).

2009b          “Stanford University Punishes Dissent When Training Teachers,” op-ed, Washington Examiner (July 29), 21. Simultaneously printed in San Francisco Examiner.

2009c          “Wasting Away: Chicago’s Declining Core.” Academic Questions 22:3 (Summer), 298–313. Updated and reprinted as “The University of Chicago—What’s Been Lost” (Nov. 19), http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2009/11/the_university_of_chicago_met.html.

2009d          “Sex, Lies, and Residence Life: Delaware’s Thought Reform.” Academic Questions 22:2 (June), 191–99.

2009e          To Kill a Mockingbird (GradeSaver Lesson Plans). GradeSaver LLC. 114 pages.

2007–10      Hundreds of entries on The Torch, FIRE’s blog, <http://www.thefire.org/index.php/contrib/3976.html>.

2007–10      Quoted in many publications (including Associated Press stories) regarding FIRE cases and similar cases involving individual rights; many radio appearances regarding FIRE cases; several op-eds in student newspapers.

2007a          Center Development Handbook (with Michael Andrews). Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute. 120 pages.

2007b          Faculty Rights Handbook (with Sharon Browne). Wilmington, DE: Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

2005–10      Editor of about 50 titles in ClassicNotes series of Great Books study guides <www.gradesaver.com>.

2005a          "Writing Resource Center: What Makes a Good Essay?" <http://www.gradesaver.com/resources/goodessay.html>. 4,000 words.

2005b          "Writing Resource Center: Academic Essays." <http://www.gradesaver.com/resources/academic.html>. 5,000 words.

2005c          “Writing Resource Center: Admission Essays.” <http://www.gradesaver.com/resources/admission.html>. 5,000 words.

2005d          “Writing Resource Center: Scholarship and Award Essays.” <http://www.gradesaver.com/resources/scholarship.html>. 4,700 words.

2001a          “You Gonna Do That in Public?” Regeneration Quarterly 7:3 (Fall 2001), 8–9.

2001b          “Synergy in Chicago.” Regeneration Quarterly 7:3 (Fall 2001), 5.

2001c          “Abstinence as Higher Education?” Project Reality News 5:1 (August 2001). Reprint of 2000b.

2000a          “How I Became a Campus Revolutionary.” Regeneration Quarterly 6:3 (Fall 2000), 6–8.
Reviewed in Christianity Today (12/4/00: “a writer to watch”); cited in Lingua Franca 11:3 (April 2001); cited in David Kirp, Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line (Harvard University Press).

2000b          “Courtship Classes.” University of Chicago Criterion 5 (November 2000).

2000c          “An Administrative Biography of Don Randel.” University of Chicago Free Press, 2000. Quoted in University of Chicago Magazine (December 2000).

1999a          “The Current and Future Status of the University of Chicago.” Summary of the work of four standing committees of the student government and dozens of interviews. Published at the University of Chicago, May 1999.

1998a          Report on Wayne Booth's course, “The Rhetorics of Science and Religion.” Faith and Science Exchange Newsletter (1998).

1997            “Humanities and the Great Books.” Review of Literature Lost by John Ellis. University of Chicago Criterion 2:3 (December 1997), 16–17.

1996–97      Editor, Boston Theological Institute Newsletter (weekly publication).

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

Prepared a study of foreign-language references in Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism for correcting the fourth edition of the Roxbury translation (Stephen Kalberg, Boston University, Oxford University Press, 2009 and 2010 editions).

PRESENTATIONS

2010d          “Free Speech Abuse on Campus,” Students for Liberty Texas Regional Conference, University of Texas–Austin (11/6/10).

2010e          “How to Advocate for Your Rights Where You Spend the First Six Years of Your Adult Life,” Students for Liberty Southeast Regional Conference, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA (10/23/10).

2010f          “‘Justice’ Gone Wrong: The Brainwashing Curriculum at the University of Delaware,” Association for Integrative Studies 32nd Annual Conference, San Diego, CA (10/9/10).

2010g          “Ancient Rhetoric and Contemporary Interdisciplinarity,” Association for Integrative Studies 32nd Annual Conference, San Diego, CA (10/8/10).

2010h          Interview on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg (radio show, Chicago, 7/13/10).

2008–10      Lectures on academic freedom and individual rights in higher education at University of Chicago Law School, University of Virginia, American University, Colorado College, Towson University, Wabash College, DePauw University, Pennsylvania State University, Association of Big Ten Students summer conference (Penn State), Binghamton University, University of Wisconsin System campuses, Sacramento State University, Merced College, California Polytechnic State University, Georgia Tech, East Georgia College (Swainsboro, GA), and Georgia State University College of Law.

2009f          “Protecting Free Speech on Campus,” Students for Liberty Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (11/7/09).

2009g          Panel remarks, “Liberal Arts Education in the 21st Century,” with Roger Kimball and James Piereson, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (10/26/09).

2009h          “On the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education,” Students for Liberty Southern Regional Conference, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC (10/24/09).

2009i          “The Brainwashing Curriculum at the University of Delaware,” panel on “Are the Dorms Being Politicized?” Thirteenth General Conference of the National Association of Scholars, “The Changing Landscape of American Higher Education” (1/11/09).

2008a          Moderator, “What Form of Transparency and Accountability Should Donors, Students and Parents Expect from Academic Institutions?” panel, American Freedom Alliance International Conference, “How Free is the University?” Los Angeles, CA (6/16/08).

2008b          “‘Habits of Mind’? The Brainwashing Curriculum at the University of Delaware.” American Freedom Alliance International Conference, “How Free is the University?” Los Angeles, CA (6/15/08).

2008c          “‘Habits of Mind’? The Brainwashing Curriculum at the University of Delaware.” Educational Policy Conference 19, Constitutional Coalition, St. Louis, MO (1/25/08).

2007c          Remarks on starting new academic centers, “Teaching the Great Books” panel, Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, Chicago, IL (10/07).

2007d          Remarks on Faculty Rights Handbook, Lehrman Summer Institute, Princeton, NJ (6/07).

2006a          Introductory remarks on Lehrman American Studies Center, Lehrman Summer Institute, Princeton, NJ (6/20/06).

2006b          Moderator, panel on “Revising the Civic Literacy Test Questions,” National Civic Literacy Board faculty advisors meeting, Princeton, NJ (6/21/06).

2006c          Introductory remarks on Miller Center for the Teaching of America’s Founding Principles, Miller Summer Institute, Boulder, CO (8/1/06).

2006d          Introductory remarks, National Summit on Building Academic Centers, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (11/10/06).

2006e          Memorial Tribute to Wayne Booth, National Communication Association, San Antonio, TX (11/17/06).

2005d          Discussant (with honorarium), sessions on “Free Trade and Globalization,” Liberty Fund colloquium, Mecosta, MI (6/9/05–6/11/05).

2004a          Discussant (with honorarium), sessions on “Liberal Education in a Free Society,” Liberty Fund colloquium, Mecosta, MI (11/4/04–11/6/04).

2004b          Introductory remarks for lecture by Josiah Bunting on “The Quadrangle and the Arena,” University of Chicago (9/28/04).

2003a          Discussant, Politics and Rhetoric Section, 61st Annual Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago (4/3/03).

2003b          Discussant, Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago (1/6/03). (On Gary Remer, “Cicero and the Ethics of Deliberative Rhetoric.”)

2002a          “Architectonic Rhetoric.” Humane Studies Fellows Research Colloquium, Institute for Humane Studies (5/18/02); IHS Summer Fellows Colloquium (June 2002); IHS Social Change Workshop (June 2002).

2002b          “Western Civilization at the University of Chicago,” Tenth General Conference of the National Association of Scholars. Introductory remarks for a roundtable discussion I initiated and planned (6/1/02).

1999b          “The University in Crisis,” Mandel Hall, University of Chicago (6/5/99).

1999c          “Consumerist Culture and the Future of Liberal Education: Tensions at the University of Chicago,” Eighth Conference of the National Association of Scholars, Chicago (4/18/99).

1999d          “Saving the University of Chicago,” remarks at a reception for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, Chicago (4/18/99).

1999e          Interview on Extension 720 with Milt Rosenberg, April.

1999f          “How the Rhetoric of Nature Informs the Rhetoric of the Ethics of Cosmetics in A Discourse of Artificial Beauty (1662),” SUNY-Binghamton graduate student conference (4/9/99).

1998b          Introductory remarks for a debate on “Political Correctness: Myth or Menace?” among Alan Charles Kors, Harvey Silverglate, and John K. Wilson, University of Chicago (10/30/98).

LANGUAGES READ (in rough order of reading proficiency)

German                   High Pass, University of Chicago translation exam

Attic Greek              one year, university study

Biblical Hebrew      two years, university study

French                     independent study

Latin                        one year, university study

Spanish                   four years, high school study

CONFERENCES ATTENDED

Students for Liberty Southeastern (Kennesaw, GA) and Texas (Austin, TX) Regional Conferences, October 23 and November 6, 2010.

Association for Integrative Studies 32nd Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, October 7–10, 2010.

“The Ethics of Rhetoric in a Digital Age,” Philadelphia Society Regional Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, September 24–25, 2010.

State Policy Network 18th Annual Meeting, Cleveland, OH, September 12–15, 2010.

Campus Freedom Network Student Conference, Bryn Mawr, PA, July 15–17, 2010.

Academic Freedom Symposium, University of Chicago, May 5–7, 2010.

“Dedicated to a Proposition? Examining the Relation between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,” Alexander Hamilton Institute Third Annual Carl B. Menges Colloquium, Verona, NY, April 15–18, 2010.

“Advancing Liberty, Creating Change.” Institute for Humane Studies and Mercatus Center. City Symposium, New York, NY, October 23, 2009.

Students for Liberty Mid-Atlantic (Philadelphia) and Southern (Winston-Salem, NC) Regional Conferences, October 24 and November 7, 2009.

FreedomFest and Campaign for Liberty Regional Conference, Las Vegas, July 9–12, 2009.

Campus Freedom Network Student Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 18–20, 2009.

“The Changing Landscape of American Higher Education.” Thirteenth General Conference of The National Association of Scholars, Washington, DC, January 9–11, 2009.

“Free Speech vs. Speech Codes: Reclaiming Your Rights on Campus.” Campus Freedom Network Summer Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 26–28, 2008.

“How Free is the University?” American Freedom Alliance, Los Angeles, CA, June 15–16, 2008.

Educational Policy Conference 19, Constitutional Coalition, St. Louis, MO, January 24–25, 2008.

Association of Literary Scholars and Critics annual conference, Chicago, IL, October 12–14, 2007.

Lehrman Summer Institute (co-director). Princeton, NJ, June 18–30, 2007.

“Liberty, Community, and Place in the American Tradition.” Intercollegiate Studies Institute Regional Leadership Conference, Charlottesville, VA, March 24, 2007.

National Communication Association annual meeting. San Antonio, TX, November 16–18, 2006.

Third Annual National Summit on Building Academic Centers (co-director). Harvard University, November 9–11, 2006.

“The Future of Civic Education in America.” Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, Georgetown University, October 19–20, 2006.

“The Contested Roots of American Liberty.” Philadelphia Society Regional Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 13–14, 2006.

Miller Summer Institute (co-director). Boulder, CO, July 31–August 12, 2006.

Lehrman Summer Institute (co-director). Princeton, NJ, June 19–July 1, 2006.

“The Role of the United States in the World Today.” Philadelphia Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, March 31–April 2, 2006.

Eleventh Annual Conference of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. Boston, MA, November 4–6, 2005.

“The Ownership Society and Conservative Principles.” Philadelphia Society Regional Meeting. Milwaukee, WI, October 7–8, 2005.

“Free Trade and Globalization.” Liberty Fund colloquium, Mecosta, MI, June 9–11, 2005.

“The Social Study of the Social Sciences and the Humanities.” Harvard University, April 8–9, 2005.

“Liberal Education in a Free Society.” Liberty Fund colloquium, Mecosta, MI, November 4–6, 2004.

“Teaching America’s Founding Principles in Higher Education.” Chicago, September 2004.

Midwest Political Science Association, 61st Annual National Conference. Chicago, April 3–6, 2003.

“Higher Education and Democracy in Peace and War.” Tenth General Conference of The National Association of Scholars. Washington, DC, May 31–June 2, 2002.

“The Idea of the University Colloquium” (colloquium series). Publisher of proceedings <iotu.uchicago.edu>. University of Chicago. 2000–01.

“Economy and Society: Max Weber in 2000.” Madison, WI, September 21–24, 2000.

“Our Universities and Our Culture.” Eighth National Conference of the National Association of Scholars. Chicago, April 16–18, 1999.

Fourth Annual Conference of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. Toronto, ON, October 2–4, 1998.

Third National Conference of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics. San Francisco, CA, November 7–9, 1997.

FOREIGN TRAVEL

Europe: Ireland, Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Turkey.

Asia: Turkey.

North America: Canada, Mexico.

TEACHING REFERENCES

Ted O’Neill, Mary (Lee) Behnke, Linda Gottfredson, and Donald N. Levine on request.