Adam Sitze

Adam Sitze is a Professor of Philosophy at Amherst College, specializing in the intersection of law, truth, and political theory. His research interrogates how juridical forms shape knowledge systems through a Foucaultian lens, focusing on transitional justice, academic freedom, and crises of sovereignty. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (2003) and an honorary A.M. from Amherst College (2019).

Key research areas include the genealogy of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the role of law in knowledge production, and anomie in political crises. Sitze has held visiting fellowships at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Vienna) and the University of the Western Cape. He co-organized a Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar on Universal Basic Income (2018-2019) and serves on editorial boards for Kronos, Law and Literature, and Cultural Critique.

His scholarship bridges philosophy, legal theory, and political history, analyzing civil disobedience, revolutionary movements, and the tension between law and truth. Awards include the Ferguson Teaching Prize (2019) and an ACLS/SSRC/NEH Fellowship (2008-2009). Sitze’s work challenges conventional understandings of sovereignty, particularly through critiques of Carl Schmitt’s political theology and analyses of emergency powers in modern states.