Matthew Specter

Matthew Specter is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, and a Lecturer in History at Santa Clara University. He specializes in modern European intellectual history, focusing on international political thought, transatlantic connections, and contemporary democratic theory. His research explores realist, liberal, and Marxist traditions, as well as the intersection of race, gender, and empire in international relations. He has held visiting roles, including a 2024 visiting professorship at the University of Regensburg through the Regensburg-Berkeley program.

Education: B.A. from Brown University (magna cum laude), Ph.D. in History from Duke University (2006). His work has been supported by institutions like the Max Planck Institute and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He has contributed to edited volumes such as The Oxford Handbook of Carl Schmitt and Fascism in America.

Research collaborations include the Department for Interdisciplinary and Multiscalar Area Studies (DIMAS) at Regensburg and partnerships with political science and European history departments. His teaching spans global decolonization, Cold War history, and comparative populism.

Key awards include the 2011 Central Connecticut State University Board of Trustees Award for Research. He currently serves as Associate Editor of History & Theory.