Rate My Professor Lisa Ellis

Lisa Ellis is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, School of Arts, Division of Humanities at the University of Otago, a position she has held since 2019. She also serves as Programme Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) programme since 2016 and was previously Professor in the Politics Department (2019–2020), Associate Professor in Philosophy (2014–2018) and Politics (2018), among other roles. Ellis earned a BA summa cum laude in Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Program in German Culture and Politics from Princeton University in 1990, an MA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, and a PhD in Political Science from Berkeley in 1999. Earlier in her career, she was Lecturer in Political Science at the University of California, San Diego (Spring 2000), Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor in Political Science at Texas A&M University (2000–2013), Director of Undergraduate Programs at Texas A&M (2011–2013), and Visiting Member at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2006–2007).

Ellis researches the political philosophy of Immanuel Kant, social contract theory, Thomas Hobbes’s political theory, environmental policy, just transitions, climate adaptation, biodiversity management, and the collective ethics of flying. Her current book project is “The Politics of Planetary Boundaries,” and she contributes to funded initiatives such as Partner Investigator on the Australian Research Council’s “The Ethics of Net Zero” (2023–2026), Associate Investigator on “Climate Reporting Effectiveness” (External Reporting Board, 2023–2027), and “A Just Transitions Guide for Aotearoa New Zealand” (MBIE, 2022–2023). Major publications include monographs Kant’s Politics: Provisional Theory for an Uncertain World (Yale University Press, 2005) and Provisional Politics: Kantian Arguments in Policy Context (Yale, 2008); edited volumes Kant’s Political Theory: Interpretations and Applications (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2012) and associate editorship of The Encyclopedia of Political Thought (John Wiley and Sons, 2015). Recent articles are “A Social Contract Case for a Carbon Tax: Ending Aviation Exceptionalism” (Revista de Ciencia Política, 2024), “On All Fronts: How to End Aviation Exceptionalism” (Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2026, with James Maclaurin and James Higham), and “Do New Zealand Select Committees Still Make a Difference? The Case of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill 2019” (Political Science, 2022, with Will Dreyer). She received the First Book Prize from the American Political Science Association’s Foundations of Political Theory section (2006), fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Institute for Advanced Study, and various research grants. Ellis teaches courses including PHIL 235 Environmental Philosophy, PHIL 103 Ethical Issues, and PPE internships, and has supervised PhD theses on climate adaptation and animal justice, among others.