received a Ph.D. in political science at Duke University in 2011.  His primary research interests are in the fields of political theory and religion and politics.  His dissertation develops a political liberal ethics of citizenship that reconciles conflicting religious and civic obligations concerning political participation and deliberation.  He defends norms for democratic decision-making that allow citizens to make religious and other controversial arguments in public political discussions while preserving citizens' commitments to liberal-democratic legitimacy, commitments that underlie protection for citizens' basic rights and liberties.  Benjamin plans to consider the normative implications of religious conflicts in health policy while a fellow in the program.