What do political theology, political theory, and political philosophy have in common? Mikael Good’s (GOV-Political Philosophy, '20) education includes all of them. She graduated from PHC on the Political Philosophy track of the Government major, and now she is a third-year Ph.D. student in political theory at Georgetown. But what she’s really interested in is political theology.
“[Political theology] focuses on retrieving the tradition of Christian political thought throughout the centuries and bringing it to bear on how we think about politics, society, and the church in the present,” she said. As a Ph.D. student, she’s had the freedom to create a unique path and take theology courses alongside her political theory courses.
After graduating from PHC, Good initially worked in Washington, D.C., as a research assistant at AEI (American Enterprise Institute) in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department. “It was an incredible chance to get a close look at how academics operate and what the research process is like,” Good said. She also had the opportunity to co-author a long essay with a scholar. “I think this kind of co-authorship is one of the most intellectually challenging and rewarding things you can do as a young aspiring scholar, and it definitely helped put me in the right frame of mind for grad school.”
Good started considering graduate school while at PHC, but having a job in D.C. further inspired her. “Working a normal ‘young professional’ job in D.C. after I graduated helped me realize that I thrived much more in an academic context, and talking to other PHC alumni who were pursuing Ph.D.s was hugely helpful for getting a realistic perspective on grad school life,” she said. She chose Georgetown because she already felt settled in D.C. and had talked with several Ph.D. students there.
“The theory program at Georgetown is especially strong in the history of political thought, but overall the program is quite eclectic as far as methods and research interests go,” she said. The flexibility of the program has allowed her to take theology courses both at Georgetown and Catholic University.
Good said that it’s hard to imagine ending up at Georgetown if she had not attended PHC. “My professors and classes at PHC ushered me into the Western tradition of theology and philosophy, and just as importantly, they inspired in me the love and wonder that are still foundational for everything I'm now doing.”
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Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.
