March 1, 2021
The Ethics and Public Policy Center is pleased to announce the creation of a Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the selection of Dr. Gabrielle M. Girgis and Dr. Nathanael Blake as EPPC’s inaugural Postdoctoral Fellows.
“The creation of the Postdoctoral Fellowships at EPPC will ensure that a rising generation of scholars are provided with a firm platform to launch their careers. Gabby and Nathanael are two of the brightest lights of their generation when it comes to political philosophy in general and the intersection of religion and public life in particular. With deep connections in both the Catholic and Evangelical communities, they make a perfect pair. We couldn’t be happier about their joining the EPPC team,” said EPPC President Ryan T. Anderson.
Dr. Girgis earned her doctorate in politics from Princeton University and at EPPC will continue her research and writing on religious liberty. A Catholic Christian, Dr. Girgis’s dissertation was on religion’s special protection in American law. She has broader interests in natural law theory, as well as the history of political thought and its contemporary applications. Read her EPPC bio here.
“The mission of the Ethics and Public Policy Center has helped shape my professional aspirations since high school. It’s a great joy and honor to be able to give my abilities to its service,” said Dr. Girgis. “I am particularly grateful to Ryan, whose friendship encourages me, as it does all of us at EPPC, to devote my very best work to the ideals of justice and the common good.”
Dr. Blake earned his doctorate in political theory from the Catholic University of America. His research interests and areas of expertise include natural law, hermeneutics, conservatism and Christian political thought. An evangelical Christian, Blake has written extensively on politics, culture and religion. His published scholarship includes work on Rousseau, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Alasdair MacIntyre and Russell Kirk. Read his EPPC bio here.
“I have long admired the work of the scholars and writers affiliated with the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and I am delighted that my friend Ryan Anderson has asked me to join them,” Dr. Blake said.
Praise for Gabrielle Girgis
“In accepting Gabrielle Girgis as a Postdoctoral Fellow, the Ethics and Public Policy Center brings to its team one of the most brilliant and rigorous defenders of religious freedom in the rising generation. We may be thankful that she is for, and not against, religious freedom. Both a master of deep theory and a deft analyst of court cases and policy decrees, she will be on the front lines of fighting the battles that are already upon us and likely will be with us for years to come.”
— Daniel Philpott, Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame
“Gabrielle Girgis brings constitutional questions about religious freedom into a new focus by engaging them in terms of the very nature of religion as understood in scholarship in religious studies and anthropology. She is a thoughtful and accomplished scholar with a broad reach in the areas of political theory, philosophy and sociology of religion, and constitutional law.”
— Melissa Lane, Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University
“Gabby Girgis is one of the nation’s most promising young scholars. By adding her to its already-formidable list of fellows, EPPC brings forward a leading voice from the next generation to the fight to preserve our ‘first freedom.’”
— Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville Associate Professor of Religion & Public Life, University of Notre Dame
“Gabrielle Girgis is a profound and profoundly relevant scholar with much to say about the important debates of our time — particularly our increasingly fierce disagreements about the foundations and meaning of religious liberty. The original and enormously valuable scholarly contributions she has already made both to our understanding of the history of political thought and to current discussions in moral and political philosophy are not only impressive in themselves. They also serve an ambitious new theory that illuminates the importance of religious freedom through a fresh reappraisal of the nature and value of religion. We need the insightful and policy-relevant scholarship of Dr. Girgis more than ever, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center is to be heartily congratulated for giving her the support and public platform she so richly deserves.”
— Timothy Samuel Shah, Distinguished Research Scholar, University of Dallas; Director of Strategic Initiatives, Center for Shared Civilizational Values
Praise for Nathanael Blake
“Nathanael Blake will be a valuable addition to the impressive talent pool already assembled at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is a prolific and acute observer of the stresses and strains that shape our public life. I expect him to make substantial contributions to the debates on policies and principles that EPPC has always taken as its purpose. In an age of increasing superficiality he will enlarge and deepen our horizons.”
— David Walsh, Professor of Politics, The Catholic University of America
“Nathanael Blake is one of the brightest traditionalists writing today. His work is perceptive, penetrating, and deeply grounded in history and philosophy. Blake’s appointment to the Ethics and Public Policy Center demonstrates that this organization is going to be at the forefront of social and political conservatism for a long time to come.”
— Luke C. Sheahan, Assistant Professor at Duquesne University and Author of Why Associations Matter
“Nathanael Blake possesses what is an increasingly rare combination these days: substantial historical education and knowledge, tempered reflection, keen insights, and a willingness to consider and engage a wide range of philosophical and political views. And he’s a clear and compelling writer to boot. He will be an excellent addition to EPPC and I look forward to reading much more of his fine work in the near future.”
— Carl Olsen, Editor, The Catholic World Report
“Nathanael Blake is a rare combination of unassuming and astonishing. At a time when all of the incentives in American life are seemingly aligned to prolong our problems, his analysis is unerringly focused on the big picture of what is just rather than the petty details of what is politically expedient. He brings to EPPC a depth of understanding and moral clarity he has no right to possess at his age, and they are fortunate to have him.”
— Mark Hemingway, Senior Writer at RealClearInvestigations
“Nathanael Blake is a voice of the American heartland we’ve been proud to elevate for years at The Federalist and are delighted to see EPPC recognize as well. His concern for faith and family and critiques of prioritizing GDP and leftist ideology as the major criteria for evaluating policy are a fresh departure from the calcified political commitments and empty slogans of so much of the coastal ruling class.”
— Joy Pullmann, Executive Editor, The Federalist
