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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 violence, 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 since antiquity it has been treated as an aberration outside politics. He shows instead that atrocity is structurally embedded in political life and that liberalism has long obscured atrocities by using the language of order, security, self-defense, and 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 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.

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

Awards & Honors

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

Courses

  • Degree Courses 2026

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

  • Degree Courses 2025

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

  • Degree Courses 2024

    • FCI 1000 FOUNDATIONS OF CRITICAL INQUIRY
    • HSS 2030 US POLITICS
    • POL 4606 ANC ATHENS&BIRTH POL THOUGHT
    • 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

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

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

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)