Thor Hogan

Assistant Professor of Politics

Programs/Departments

• Politics
• Business and Nonprofit Management
• Environmental Studies

Degrees

• Ph.D., George Washington University
• J.D., Suffolk University
• B.A., Clark University

Contact Info

Campus Mail
Drawer 115

Phone
765-983-1781

E-mail
thorh@earlham.edu

Office
217 Landrum Boiling Center

Selected Courses

Introduction to American Politics American Presidency Political Parties and Elections American Public Policy Global Change I: Climate Policy Global Change II: Energy Policy Comparative Environmental Policy Constitutional Law The American Empire: Are We Rome (or Britain)? American National Security Policy via Film

Biography

Thor Hogan is an Assistant Professor of Politics and Environmental Studies at Earlham College. After completing his undergraduate degree at Clark University, he worked for two years as a speechwriter and deputy communications director for the Democratic Party in Massachusetts - while going to law school at night (fun stuff!). In 1998, Thor moved to Washington, DC to start graduate work at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University. At the same time, he began an eight-year career as a policy researcher at a series of think tanks - this included half a decade as a project director within the RAND Corporation's Science and Technology Policy Institute. In this capacity, he was the principal investigator on numerous studies conducted for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Research Projects

Thor's research focuses on science and technology policy, currently looking primarily at climate and energy policy. He is the award winning author of 'Mars Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Space Exploration Initiative,' which examined the history of a failed policy during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. He is currently working with Rich Leshner on a forthcoming book entitled 'The View From Space: NASA's Evolving Struggle to Understand Our Home Planet,' which is a multi-decade policy history of the Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observation System program. Thor has begun research on a third book, which will investigate the rise of the American Empire within an energy policy context - several students have worked on this project through independent study projects.

More About Me

Thor lives in Oxford, Ohio with his partner Kate, son Sam, and dog Izzy. Kate is an Assistant Professor of Family Studies at Miami University, where her teaching and research focuses on issues of family diversity - she and Thor met twenty years ago as undergraduates. Sam is less than a year old, so his current focus is mostly on eating, crying, and sleeping - for some reason he has an ongoing obsession with ceiling fans. Thor, Kate, and Izzy are avid trail runners, visiting the Miami nature preserve most every morning - although these days one of the humans has to walk while carrying Sam! Thor is a dedicated traveler and trekker. In the past decade he has traveled on five continents, while trekking in the Himalayas, Andes, Alps, and on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Thor's other great passion is cooking, although he does this mostly during summers spent in Rhode Island.