Department of Government and Justice Studies

Dr. Nancy  Love joined the Department of Government & Justice Studies in 2009. She received a Ph.D. in 1984 and M.A. in 1981 from Cornell University and an A.B. degree in 1977 from Kenyon College. Her teaching and research emphasize political theory, especially critical theory, democratic theory, and feminist theory. She is the author of Anthems: Community, Land and Song (forthcoming), Trendy Fascism: White Power Music and the Future of Democracy (2016), Musical Democracy (2006), Understanding Dogmas and Dreams: A Text, 2nd ed. (2006), and Marx, Nietzsche, and Modernity (1986), the editor of Dogmas and Dreams: A Reader in Modern Political Ideologies, 4th ed. (2010), and the co-editor of Studying Politics Today: Critical Approaches to Political Science (2014) and Doing Democracy: Activist Art and Cultural Politics (2013). She has also published numerous articles in prominent journals and contributed invited chapters to multiple edited volumes. In 2024, she received the Charles A. McCoy Career Achievement Award from the Caucus for a Critical Political Science. She also received the 2021-22 Donald W. Sink Family Outstanding Scholar Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at Appalachian State and the 1991 Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching at Pennsylvania State University. When she is not working, she enjoys playing with her dogs, tending her chickens, and sharing the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Areas of Expertise & Interest:

• Political Theory
• Critical Theory
• Democratic Theory
• Feminist Theory
• Politics and Music

Education:

• Ph.D. Cornell University, 1/84 (defense 8/83) Dissertation: “Marx and Nietzsche: Critics of the ‘Rational Society‘
• M.A. Cornell University, 1981
• A.B. Kenyon College, 1977 (summa cum laude)

Courses Taught (selected):

• Political Ideologies 
• Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Political Theory 
• Modern and Contemporary Political Theory 
• Foundations of American Political Thought 
• Introduction to Political Theory
• Marxist and Socialist Theory 
• Modern Democratic Theory 
• Critical Theory 
• Aesthetics and Politics 
• Histories of Knowledge 
• Music and Social Change