Dr. Peter Iver Kaufman

Dr. Peter Iver Kaufman studies the political cultures of late antiquity, medieval, and early modern Europe and North Africa as well as nationalism and contemporary political theory. He has written 13 books, including Safety First: Imperium, Discontent, and Augustine, published in 2024. In June 2025, Edinburgh University Press will publish his 14th book, Arendt’s Disappointments and Our New Beginnings: Citizenship and Democracy Reimagined. 

He is the author of more than 60 articles on authority, religious conflict, and literary history, which have appeared in journals such as Leadership and the Humanities, Journal of Late Antiquity, Harvard Theological Review, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte, and Journal of the American Academy of Religion. He has also edited six books, ranging from studies of charisma to others on leadership and Elizabethan culture. He was founding editor and, for six years, editor-in-chief of the Religion Around series for Pennsylvania State University Press and the founding editor and, for 10 years, editor-in-chief of the journal Religions.

Kaufman teaches introductory leadership studies courses, such as Leadership and the Humanities and Justice and Civil Society, as well as advanced courses on political, cultural, and religious leaders in late antiquity and early modern Europe.

He is professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he taught in the departments of history and religious studies and where, in 2003, he founded the Scholars Latino Initiative (SLI-NC). SLI now has additional chapters in Harrisonburg, Winchester, and Richmond, Virginia.