I am currently a Guest Teacher at the London School of Economics, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method. I hold a PhD in Political Theory from the LSE (2020), and have just recently relocated back to London after a 2-year Postdoc in Fribourg University, Switzerland. My expertise is in political philosophy, specialising in the political and moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. I am interested in the question of whether the traditional notion of a ‘collective will’ is capable of grounding an account of political obligation in plural, broadly secular, societies as our own.
Originally from Venezuela, I moved to London in 2011 where I completed an MA and an MPhil in Philosophy at King’s College London, later followed by my PhD titled Kant and Political Willing at the LSE.
When I am thirsty of new ideas, I always turn back to reading Karl Popper, Albert Hirschman, Thomas Hobbes, Sheldon Wolin, and Bernard Williams. Much is gained from a mixed bag of thinkers!
Curriculum vitae
Dr. Paola Romero
Guest Teacher, The London School of Economics, Philosophy Department
Education
| 2020 | PhD in Political Theory |
| London School of Economics and Political Science. | |
| 2014 | MPhil |
| King’s College London | |
| 2012 | Master in Philosophy |
| King’s College London | |
| 2009 | BA in Liberal Arts |
| Cum Laude, Universidad Metropolitana. Caracas, Venezuela. |
Professional Experience
| 2022-2023 | Guest Teacher The London School of Economics and Political Science. |
| 2022-2023 | Visiting Research Fellow Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España. |
| 2020-2022 | Postdoc of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Chair Department of Philosophy, Fribourg University, Switzerland. |
| 2020 | Academic Advisor Master’s degree in Philosophy of the Universidad Francisco Marroquí (UFM), Guatemala. |
| 2019-2020 | Philosophy Teacher Harris Westminster Sixth Form, London, UK. |
| 2017— | Reviewer for Kantian Review, Constellations, Philosophy and Public Issues, Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Transcendental Philosophy, Hege Bulletin. |
| 2019— | Fellow The Liberty Fund, Indiana, USA. |
| 2018-2020 | Assistant to the Editor of the American Political Science Review journal. |
| 2018 | Member of the Jury for the Orwell Foundation Youth Price. |
| 2017 | Research Fellow at the Institute of Humane Studies, Washington D.C., USA |
| 2013-2020 | Graduate Teaching Assistant, King’s College London & The London School of Economics. |
| 2012 | Founder and Director of the ‘Philosophy in the City’ programme, sponsored by the Instituto Cervantes, Spain. |
Selected Publications
| —‘The revolutionary “deception”: Kant on the illusion of a politics of happiness’, Etica e Politica XIII, 2, pp. 17-38, 2021. |
| —‘How Schmitt (and others) got Kant wrong’, Con-textos Kantianos 13, pp. 186-208, 2021. |
| —‘Disipando el fantasma de Carl Schmitt en la filosofía política de Kant’ en “El ethos del republicanismo cosmopolita. Perspectivas euroamericanas” (eds.) J.L. Villacañas, N. Sánchez Madrid, J. Muñoz, Hamburg: Peter Lang, 2021. |
| —‘From volitional self-contradiction to moral deliberation: between Kleingeld and Timmons’s interpretations of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law’, Philosophia Vol. XX (forthcoming). |
| —‘Ethics’, Visual Encyclopedia of Philosophy, DK Penguin Random House, London, 2020. |
| —‘¿Pertenezco yo a este mundo? El conservadurismo estético de Roger Scruton’, Prodavinci. [07/12/2020]. |
| —‘Seis ensayos de climatología: Responde Paola Romero’, Papel Literario. [3/5/2020]. |
| —‘Kant’s Response to Revolution as Crisis: An Exception to Koselleck’s Thesis’ Studia Philosophica, Vol. 74, pp. 149-163, 2015. |
| —‘Estudio del Absurdo en El Mito de Sísifo de Albert Camus’ Anales (Venezuela), Vol. 15, No 1: 71-93, 2015. |
Selected Conferences & Public Events
| —Invited speaker at the Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy Lecture Series, University of Surrey, School of Law, November 2020. |
| —Invited lecturer for the ‘Fundación para el Progreso’ FPP Academy (Chile), May 2022. |
| —Invited speaker at the Leuven Seminar in Classical German Philosophy, Leuven University, March 2022, via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeK8cudxr0c&ab_channel=LeuvenResearchinClassicalGermanPhilosophy |
| —Invited speaker at the ECPR Kantian Political Thought Standing Group (University of Mississippi, Ohio University, CONICET), December 2021, via: https://youtu.be/vsdnQ1GKIf8 |
| —Invited speaker at the North American Kant Society Women Scholars Network Series, online, October 2021. |
| —Keynote speaker for the Universidad Francisco Marroquín (Guatemala) virtual “Master Class”, September 2020, via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgM2LuFzHBg |
| —Invited Speaker at the “Liberty Fund: Coercion and Freedom” 3-day conference in York, United Kingdom, October 2019. |
| —Invited speaker at the “Ealing Ethics Conference” together with Peter Singer and Hallvard Lillehammer. Brentside High School, London. April 2019. |
| —Invited participant of the Colloquium ‘Liberal Economics and Mainline Economics’, at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), in collaboration with the Mercatus Center and the Vinson Centre, London. November 2017. |
| —Invited participant of the Leverhulme Trust Inter-disciplinary Project ‘Thinking Across Borders: Engaging African and Western Political and Philosophical Thinking’, Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society, Chicago, United States, April 2017. |
| —Invited speaker at the “Kolloquium Politische Theorie” of the Fakultät für Wirtschafts und Sozialwissenschaften, at the University of Hamburg, November 2016. |
Skills
This stock of skills and capabilities allow me to develop new projects in collaboration with diverse people and institutions. They have enabled me to test, discuss, and share ideas (about philosophy, societal challenges and changes in modern life, politics, art, etc.) in different pedagogical, cultural and social contexts.
- Over 10 years of experience teaching philosophy, political theory, and ethics, to young children, teenagers, adults, professionals and curious minds.
- I appeal to a core knowledge of concepts and ideas that help me problematise the world that surrounds us.
- I share this knowledge in different formats: evening discussion groups among friends, a university lecture room, a Zoom Masterclass for over 80 young adults, and in the halls The Prado museum. I am open to any form of delivery that bests suits interests of those congregated around a topic or problem.
- I am interested in making people:
—say out loud what they think,
—help them articulate why they think it,
—give them theoretical resources to better navigate the world they live in and the things of this world that interest them or that trouble them,
—allow people to enjoy learning by means of conversation and debate. - My pedagogical method appeals to ideas in philosophy, politics, history and science, thereby combining past historical experiences with a close reading of our present via newspaper articles, series, and social media.
- I am a clear, articulate, and engaging speaker for small and big audiences, delivered +100 conferences and talks in the US, Germany, Argentina, Norway, Guatemala, Switzerland and the UK.
- I’ve discovered through experience that effective communication relies on:
—knowing what you want to say,
—understanding who the audience is and that their expectations are,
—offering an authentic and unique perspective on your topic. - No communication exercise is done until you get questions and listen to what the recipient made of it.
- I have a capacity for analytical thinking, approaching texts, problems, and data as information that needs to be unpacked and understood holistically.
- My experience as a researcher allows me to absorb many different types of resources and ideas, by drawing:
—more abstract and general connections,
—synthesising in a clear and straightforward manner the most basic ideas at stake.
—Conclusions and forecasting implications that derive from the material at hand.
- People have a drive to know. In today’s shifting world, people want to understand what is happening around them and to identify their role in this universe of permanent change. My approach to learning takes this need seriously.
- I design learning experiences that combine my knowledge with the specific requirements of those who require my services (for example tailored-made seminars on current affairs from a philosophical and historical perspective, written scripts for videos and social media content).
- I have a solid experience in developing research projects, political consultancy, brief analysis of data and complex information, organisational advice, project development in formative and cultural areas (such as the project “Philosophy in the Cities” in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, Spain, originally established in Venezuela under the title “Filosofía en la Ciudad”, Chacao District, Caracas).
Services
Philosophical coaching,
personalized and/or
aimed at groups.
Topic-based talks
for general
audiences.
Educational support
for all ages
and stages.
Project development
and management, with
a comprehensive approach.
Evaluation and critical
feedback of tasks, strategies
and challenges.
Art tours,
with a philosophical twist,
live or virtually.