Compass is an online journal that provides a space for the work of talented undergraduates who have original and well-articulated insights on important ideas and issues relating to American democracy understood in the broad contexts of political philosophy, history, literature, economics, and culture. Compass is a project of the Tocqueville Forum at Northern Illinois University, in partnership with the Center for Political Thought and Leadership (in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership) at Arizona State University.
Published essays will usually be 1500-2000 words in length. The editorial team works closely with authors to prepare their essays for eventual publication.
Please submit your essays to Compass Editor Prof. Andrea Radasanu at compass@startingpointsjournal.com.
Our Leadership
Andrea Radasanu
Professor Radasanu (MA, Ph.D, University of Toronto) is the Director of the University Honors Program at Northern Illinois University, as well as associate professor in the Department of Political Science specializing in the history of political thought.
She has published several articles and chapters on the foundations of liberalism in the eighteenth century, with a focus on Montesquieu’s thought. She also edited a volume called The Pious Sex: Essays on Women and Religion in the History of Political Thought (Lexington 2010), which deals with the controversial relationship between women and piety.
She is currently working on the relationship between political theory and the development of the concept of international law in the thought of Montesquieu, Tocqueville, and others.
Adam Seagrave
Adam Seagrave (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Associate Director and Associate Professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.
His research focuses on the central ideas of the American political tradition, both in the American context itself as well as its antecedents in the history of political thought. His first book, The Foundations of Natural Morality: On the Compatibility of Natural Rights and the Natural Law, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2014. He has also published Liberty and Equality: The American Conversation (University Press of Kansas, 2015) and The Accessible Federalist (Hackett Publishing Co., 2017).
In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Seagrave serves as managing editor of the journal American Political Thought, as well as founder and co-editor of the journal Starting Points, and associate editor of the journal Compass.
Compass is an online journal that provides a space for the work of talented undergraduates who have original and well-articulated insights on important ideas and issues relating to American democracy understood in the broad contexts of political philosophy, history, literature, economics, and culture.