Matthew Specter

Matthew Specter is a Lecturer in History at Santa Clara University and has taught at UC Berkeley since 2017 in programs such as History, Political Economy, Global Studies, and Legal Studies. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University (2008–2017), focusing on modern German and European intellectual history. He holds a PhD in History from Duke University (2006) and degrees from Harvard and Brown.

His research spans three core areas: the history of international political thought (focusing on realism, liberalism, and Marxism with transatlantic connections); German intellectual history (including Carl Schmitt, the Frankfurt School, and Habermas); and contemporary democratic theory, addressing neofascism and right-wing populism in the global North. He has authored two monographs—The Atlantic Realists (2022) and Habermas: An Intellectual Biography (2010)—and serves as Associate Editor of History & Theory since 2014.

His work has been supported by institutions like the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Max Planck Institute, and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Notable honors include the Central Connecticut State University Board of Trustees Award (2011). His teaching includes courses on decolonization, Cold War history, European film, and comparative populism.

His articles appear in journals like History & Theory, Modern Intellectual History, and Constellations. He contributes to edited volumes on Carl Schmitt, fascism in America, and critical theory.