Lexi Neame
Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science
Political Science Department
Division of History and Social Sciences
My research and teaching interests are in the history of political thought, contemporary democratic and feminist theory, and the politics of science, technology and the environment (particularly statistics and statecraft, climate science, and contemporary data politics). My book manuscript (tentatively called Common Knowledge) is occasioned by the crisis of authoritative knowledge in democratic societies. Drawing on the thought of Hannah Arendt as well as interdisciplinary literature on democracy and expertise, new communication technologies, and digital publics, it explores how scientific and technical knowledge translates, circulates and becomes contested in the public realm. I also lead an interdisciplinary research project called Arendt on Earth: From the Archimedean Point to the Anthropocene (www.arendtonearth.com), funded by Humanities Without Walls and the Mellon Foundation. I received my PhD from Northwestern and taught at Stanford before coming to Reed. This year I will teach The Human Condition, Democracy and Data, and Introduction to Political Theory. The central aim of my teaching is to hone students’ ability to read, think and write rigorously, critically, generously and—not least—passionately.