Nathan Feldman specializes in nineteenth- and twentieth-century political thought, as well as the American political tradition. His scholarship revolves around three interests. The first concern pertains to the politics and practice of political theory. He asks how political theorists have historically engaged with existing politics, and how they might engage with it in the future. Second, his work examines the tools political theorists have deployed when they seek to be “realistic,” endeavoring to furnish theoretic concepts with empirical evidence. Third, his research charts, contextualizes, and evaluates elements of the liberal tradition of political thought. His first book project, A Liberal Science, offers a genealogy of professional Anglophone political theory.
He is experienced in teaching political theory and the history of political thought in Columbia's flagship undergraduate course, Contemporary Western Civilization. The first semester of the course covers ancient Hellenistic thought through the Enlightenment, and the second semester covers the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has taught introductory courses in political theory and American politics.
