About
Jennifer Culbert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), affiliated with the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. She holds a PhD in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and has taught at Arizona State University and Amherst College. Her research focuses on political theory, jurisprudence, ethics, and the philosophy of law, with particular attention to state violence, capital punishment, and Hannah Arendt’s political thought.
Education: PhD in Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley.
Culbert’s work explores themes such as revenge, mercy, pain, and the intersections of law, literature, and aesthetics. Her book Dead Certainty: The Death Penalty and the Problem of Judgment (2008) and co-edited volume States of Violence: War, Capital Punishment, and Letting Die (2009) are seminal contributions to legal and political philosophy. She is currently writing a book on legal philosophy inspired by Hannah Arendt’s reflections on art and political thought.
Recent articles emphasize themes like legal personhood, responsibility, and the ethical dimensions of law. Her 2022 article Interrupting the Legal Person engages with Arendtian theory to critique contemporary legal frameworks.
- Recipient of the Berlin Prize (American Academy in Berlin, 2011)
- Murphy Institute Fellowship (Tulane University, 2008-2009)
- ASLCH Award (2006)
Culbert has held leadership roles, including Director of JHU’s Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (2020–2023). She is also affiliated with JHU’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (German section) and the Department of Comparative Thought and Literature. Her editorial roles include Review Editor for Law, Culture and the Humanities. In 2023, she was the Birkbeck School of Law Writer in Residence at the University of London.
Her research bridges law, literature, and philosophy, often addressing how narratives shape legal and ethical discourse. She critiques state violence through interdisciplinary lenses, emphasizing the need for transformative legal and political thought.
