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Kristofer Petersen-Overton

  • Adjunct Lecturer
Academic Division: History & Society
Professor Petersen-Overton holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). His research centers on atrocity and genocide studies, structural injustice, and the politics of Palestine-Israel. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Journal of Social Philosophy, Cultural Critique, Social Text, Contemporary Political Theory, The Journal of Political Science Education, Arab Studies Quarterly, The Guardian, and The Brooklyn Rail, Politics/Letters, WarScapes, AlterNet, and The Huffington Post, as well as in the edited volumes We Will Not Be Silenced (AK Press, 2017) and Peace Philosophy in Action (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Professor Petersen-Overton is currently writing a book on the concept of atrocity in Western political thought, tracing how transgressive violence has been understood as an extra-political aberration. By contrast, he shows that atrocity has more often been a central feature of political life. From antiquity through liberalism, political order has been sustained through the management, rationalization, and selective concealment of atrocity, especially where violence is reframed in the language of order, security, self-defense, or rights.

He is the co-author of Karl Marx and the League of the Just, a Reacting to the Past role-playing game in development for college classrooms, and co-translator of Lex Icon (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2024), by the Portuguese writer Salette Tavares. He is also translating an anthology of essays on colonialism by the Portuguese polymath, Eduardo Lourenço.

Professor Petersen-Overton previously worked as a human rights advocate with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) in the Gaza Strip and with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in London.

Professor Petersen-Overton is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Association for Political Theory, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network. He currently serves as an editor at Sputnik & Fizzle, a small press that publishes work by artists, scholars, and activists.

Academic Degrees

  • Ph D, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
  • MS, Aalborg University
  • BA, San Diego State University

Academic Interest / Expertise

Political theory (ancient, modern, contemporary), Palestine-Israel, violence and atrocity, structural injustice, political responsibility, ignorance, music and politics, etc.

Awards & Honors

  • 2025 — Teaching Innovation Fund (TIF), Babson College

Courses

  • Degree Courses 2026

    • POL 4607 THE POLITICS OF PUNISHMENT
    • CSP 2015 POLITICAL THOUGHT

  • Degree Courses 2025

    • FCI 1000 FOUNDATIONS OF CRITICAL INQUIRY
    • HSS 2030 US POLITICS
    • POL 4607 THE POLITICS OF PUNISHMENT
    • CSP 2015 POLITICAL THOUGHT

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (in press). "What We're Supposed To Be Doing": Ideology and Structural Injustice in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Cultural Critique. University of Minnesota Press.
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2024). Memories of Gaza. Social Text. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2023). The Harmonious Classroom: Teaching Political Theory With Period Music. The Journal of Political Science Education. Taylor & Francis. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2022). Perpetuation as perpetration: Wrongful benefit and responsibility for historical injustice. Contemporary Political Theory. Vol: 21, Page: 545?“566. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2011). Academic Freedom & Palestine. Arab Studies Quarterly. Vol: 33, Issue: 3/4. Pluto Journals. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2008). Counting Heads: Israel's Demographic Imperative. Interdisciplinary Journal of International Studies. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2007). Security or Demography? The West Bank Barrier as a Demographic Tool. Studium. Vol: 7, Issue: 1. Studium. link

Book Chapters

  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2017). A Problem Grows in Brooklyn: We Will Not Be Silenced: The Academic Repression of Israel's Critics. Page: 84-97. AK Press. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2010). Retooling Peace Philosophy: A Critical Look At Israel's Separation Strategy: Peace Philosophy in Action. Page: 43-76. Palgrave-MacMillan. link

Books

  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2025). Karl Marx and the League of the Just. Reacting to the Past.
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2024). Lex Icon. Ugly Ducking Presse. link

Other

  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2023). The Harmonious Classroom: Teaching Political Theory With Period Music. American Political Science Association. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2021). Shoe. Issue: November 2021. The Brooklyn Rail. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2015). Torture and Moral Vision. WarScapes. link
  • Petersen-Overton, K.J. (2013). Not About BDS. The Huffington Post. link

Presentations

  • Revisiting the Platonic Tyrant: Violence as Form and Content Petersen-Overton, K. Western Political Science Association, Seattle, WA (2025)
  • The Harmonious Classroom: Teaching Political Theory With Period Music Petersen-Overton, K. American Political Science Association, Los Angeles, CA (2023)
  • The Bull of Phalaris: Atrocity and Political Theory Petersen-Overton, K. Association For Political Theory, Irvine, CA (2019)
  • Overlooking Atrocities: On Liberal-Democratic State Violence Petersen-Overton, K. American Political Science Association, Boston, MA (2018)
  • Thresholds of Atrocity: Liberal Violence and the Politics of Moral Vision Petersen-Overton, K. American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA (2017)
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Professional Services

  • Reviewer, Journal Article Journal of Social Philosophy (2016 - Present)