Sara Henary is Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wake Forest University. Her teaching and research interests include modern political theory, American political thought, religion and politics, and politics and literature. Her dissertation, Nature and Convention in Locke’s Political Philosophy, examined the theoretical foundations of John Locke’s political thought, and she is currently revising it for publication. Henary has recently written on the political thought of Alexis de Tocqueville and is also developing a project on Anthony Trollope’s ‘political’ novels. In 2010-2011, she was the Olin-Lehrman Postdoctoral Research Associate at Princeton University’s James Madison Program. A graduate of Rhodes College, she received her Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Virginia.

Education
B.A.    2001, Rhodes College
M.A.    2006, University of Virginia
Ph.D.   2010, University of Virginia

Academic Appointments
Visiting Assistant Professor, Wake Forest University, Department of Political Science, 2011-present
Olin-Lehrman Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, James Madison Program and Department of Politics, 2010-2011

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Publications:

See CV for publications.

Political Science 115: Political Theory

This course surveys the history of Western political thought from Plato to Tocqueville. While the course cannot and does not purport to exhaust the possibilities of political theory, the texts canvassed here rank among the most profound and influential in the history of political thought. As such, they constitute a good place to begin (or continue) your encounter with political theory.

The guiding theme of the course will be the relationship between the individual and the political community. Examination of this theme will require us to reflect on a number of questions: Do human beings have a “nature,” or is human behavior primarily the result of cultural and historical contingencies? What implications does a specific answer to this question have for politics? Are political arrangements natural or man made? Should they aim to orient citizens toward virtue, or do they function merely as instruments for securing the community against internal and external threats? What are the strengths and limitations of democracy as a form of government? How does/should political theory inform political practice? Do philosophical ideas have a place in political life, or is the latter the special preserve of powerful interests? What is the relationship between religion and politics?

Political Science 269: Religion and Liberal Democracy

This course will study the relationship between Christianity and liberal democracy. A number of questions will guide our study: What is liberal democracy? Does liberal democracy have religious origins? Secular origins?  Do origins even matter as we evaluate contemporary institutions and practices? Is liberal democracy threatened by the persistence of religion and religiosity, or does it need religion in order to flourish? To survive (or thrive) in liberal democracy, must religion have certain features? Do we live in a “secular age”? 
The course is divided into four parts. In Part I, we will investigate the concept of a political regime with an eye toward understanding the nature and structure of liberal democracy. In Part II, we will explore the origins of the liberal democratic regime, which lie in a complex interplay of religious and secular(izing) forces. In Part III, we will consider the secularization thesis. A central question of this unit and the next will be the extent to which “modernity” can and should be understood as a single, unitary phenomenon. By way of conclusion, we will examine the distinct issues facing two types of contemporary liberal democracies: a) those in which traditional religion persists as a significant force in society; and b) those in which traditional religion is largely absent.