Jeffrey Dymond

Bio

I am an intellectual and legal historian. I aim in my research to understand the historical development of important social, political, and legal institutions and doctrines, such as sovereignty, the state, and international law. My current book project - called "Civilization and the Law of Nations" - re-constructs the assumptions about human nature and human sociability that animated the work of the early modern lawyers whose contributions gave initial shape to European ideas of international legal order. I especially wish to understand why these particular beliefs about human nature came to be regarded as universally applicable at a time of greater global and inter-cultural exchange. My PhD project focused on the reception of ancient Roman political and legal ideas and their role in shaping the modern state.

Before coming to Stanford, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the History Department at the University of Zürich, where I worked on a project tracing the reception of ancient Roman legal and political ideas across different points in European history. I earned my PhD in History in 2021 at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Academic Appointments

• Lecturer, Stanford Introductory Studies - Civic, Liberal, and Global Education

Professional Education

• PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, History (2021)