Biography
Dr. Mason began teaching for Liberty in 2012 and currently serves as the chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. A native of Lynchburg, he attended LU as an Honors Scholar for a degree in government and then held political jobs in Lynchburg and Richmond. After earning graduate degrees in ethics and theology at seminaries in North Carolina and Kentucky, he moved back to Virginia and completed graduate degrees in public policy and church history. Later, he and his family moved to Scotland to pursue a PhD at King’s College, University of Aberdeen. His doctoral work on political ethics dealt with the doctrine of the lesser magistrate and resistance to tyranny. Outside of academia, he enjoys spending time with his family and working outdoors on his tractor.
Research Expertise & Interests
University Service
Selected Presentations & Publications
Taught Courses
- Political Ethics
-Lesser Magistrate Doctrine, Lawful Armed Resistance, & Just War Tradition
-Political Legitimacy, Totalitarianism, & the State of Exception - Biomedical Ethics
-Intersections of Biological, Philosophical, & Political Personhood
-Reproductive Technologies
- Technological Ethics
-Artificial Intelligence
-Cryptocurrency - Sixteenth Century History
-The Magisterial Reformation
-Martin Luther’s Thought
- Department Chair | College of Arts & Sciences
- Program Director | College of Arts & Sciences
- A.A./B.S. — Philosophy, Politics, & Economics
- A.A./B.A./B.S. — Interdisciplinary Studies
- Subject Matter Expert | College of Arts & Sciences
- PHIL 200, PHIL 280, INDS 491, ETHC 620
- Course Evaluator | College of Arts & Sciences
- CSER Supervisor | LU Serve
- Executive Editor | NEXUS: The Liberty Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
- Faculty Advisor
- Chi Iota Sigma: Interdisciplinary Studies Departmental Honor Society
- Course Designer | College of Arts & Sciences
- PHIL 305 | Political Philosophy (co-designed)
- PHIL 497 | Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
- ETHC 620 | Just War Theory
- Research Week Judge | Center for Research & Scholarship
- “Christ and Caesar in Conflict: Magdeburg’s Bekenntnis and the Survival of Luther’s Reform” | University of Aberdeen Postgraduate Research Symposium | King’s College, Aberdeen, Scotland | 31 May, 2021
- With Sarah Rice, “Pursuing God and the Good: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Engagement Through Biblical Ethics and Writing” | Faith and the Academy 5, no. 1 (2020)
- “Mutiny at Magdeburg: Lutheran Political Resistance as Framed by Theology” | RefoRC Conference on Early Modern Christianity | Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII, Bologna, Italy | 15-17 May, 2019
- “The Historical Formation of Luther’s Political Ethic” | Society for the Study of Christian Ethics Postgraduate Conference | University of Durham, England | 1 April, 2019
- “The Problem with Discriminating Against Pro-Life Students” |The Gaudie, 17 November, 2018
- “City Celebrations: 31 October 2017, Wittenberg, Germany” | Sixteenth Century Journal XLVIII, no. 4 (Winter 2017): 1011-12
- ETHC 101 | Introduction to Ethics
- ETHC 280 | Dilemmas in Socialism and Marxism
- ETHC 620 | Just War Theory
- INDS 491 | Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone
- INQR 101 | Inquiry
- PHIL 200 | Pursuits of Happiness
- PHIL 201 | Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas
- PHIL 497 | Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
- RSCH 201 | Research