Former AHI Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) would like to congratulate former Undergraduate Fellow Thomas Cheeseman who recently delivered a paper at this year’s meeting of the Michael Oakeshott Association at Colorado College. The paper, entitled, “Homo Ludens and Civil Association: The Sublime Nature of Michael Oakeshott’s Civil Condition,” connects the work of Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga with that of the esteemed conservative British conservative philosopher Michael Oakeshott. Cheeseman delivered the paper to an audience composed of some of the world’s most distinguished Oakeshott scholars, including Timothy Fuller, Noël O’Sullivan, Corey Abel, Elizabeth Corey, and Leslie Marsh.  O’Sullivan described it as “extremely informative,” and many others expressed similar praise. Cheeseman credited the Bowdoin political theorist Paul Franco, as well as the late Kenneth Minogue, as inspirations for his topic. Dean Ball, one of the current leaders of the AHI’s Undergraduate Fellows Program, also attended the conference

“The Michael Oakeshott Association was pleased to welcome Thomas Cheeseman and Dean Ball to their 2013 conference held at Colorado College this past week,” said Dr. Leslie Marsh, founder of the Michael Oakeshott Association. “Thomas presented a paper that was not only substantively compelling but most elegantly delivered. Some of the most senior Oakeshottians were very impressed with this new young voice on the scene. We hope that both Thomas and Dean will be able to participate in future conferences.”

Cheeseman graduated from Hamilton College in 2012, where he was an economics major and a key student leader of the AHI Undergraduate Fellows and the College Republicans. In 2010, he oversaw an intensive reading group covering the work of Friedrich Hayek. A year later, he presented a paper on natural rights theory at Princeton University. After graduating, he spent a year working as an intern for the AHI. He currently attends Vanderbilt University Law School, which awarded him the prestigious Wade Scholarship. Dean Ball interned at the Manhattan Institute during the summer of 2013 and has designed and implemented a variety of undergraduate programs in history, economics, and political theory for the AHI.

AHI Undergraduate Fellow Dean Ball speaks to banquet guests. Photo Copyright 2013 Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica, N.Y.

“Thomas Cheeseman and Dean Ball,” observed AHI Charter Fellow Robert Paquette, “are splendid young men.  The AHI nurtured them; they have now crossed the threshold into maturity and are teaching their mentors things.  We at the AHI could not be more proud of them.”