Former Williams President Publishes Book on Ancient and Medieval Political Theory
Francis Oakley |
The book, written with the support of a Mellon Foundation Emeritus Research Fellowship, was published by Yale University Press. It is the first volume in the trilogy "The Emergence of Western Political Thought in the Latin Middle Ages."
"Empty Bottles of Gentilism" concludes that the Middle Ages, not ancient Greece and Rome, "provided the origins of our inherently secular politics." Oakley asserts that the transition from the ancient to the Christian outlook was "a shift, not so much from a secular to a religious viewpoint, as from one ancient and widespread mode of religious consciousness to another and radically different one."
At Williams since 1961, Oakley has a long history with the college. In addition to serving as dean of the faculty from 1977 to 1984 and as president from 1985 to 1993, he is the Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of the History of Ideas emeritus. In his retirement, he is back at Williams as a visiting professor of history, teaching a tutorial on the evolution of political thought from late antiquity to the 1700s.
Oakley has written widely on the Middle Ages and on American higher education.
He is the author of 13 books, including "Community of Learning: The American College and the Liberal Arts Tradition;" "The Conciliarist Tradition: Constitutionalism in the Catholic Church 1300-1870," winner of the 2004 Roland Bainton Book Prize; "Natural Law, Laws of Nature, Natural Rights," named as an outstanding academic title by Choice Magazine; and "Kingship: The Politics of Enchantment." Oakley is also co-editor of three other books and nearly 200 of his articles, translations, and reviews have appeared in print.
Oakley has served as president of the New England Medieval Conference, of the Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America, and of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). He was also chair of the board of the ACLS, of the National Humanities Center in North Carolina and president of the board of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. He served on the editorial boards of The Journal of the History of Ideas and of Orion: Nature Quarterly. In 1986, he was elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, in 1991 Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and, in 1998, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He received his B.A. from Oxford University and his Ph.D. from Yale. He holds seven honorary degrees, including one from Williams. Oakley has taught at Yale, Oxford, the University of Toronto, and North Adams State College.