Fellowship Program
One of the Center’s cornerstone programs is the Resident Fellowship. This unique and multidisciplinary fellowship brings together civilian academics and military professionals to study a timely topic relevant to military operations. The fellows participate in a weekly research seminar, conduct independent and joint research, serve as guest instructors to the Midshipmen, travel to meet with other experts in the field, publish their analyses in journals and books, produce instructional materials for the Academy curriculum, and make presentations at the Academy and other national and international forums.
The Center advertises widely each year for Resident Fellowship candidates, and the Center’s Dean of Research and Director of the Office of Research and Scholarship in Ethics review all submitted applications. The Center selects three Resident Fellows each year.
The Stockdale Center Resident Fellowship has helped launch academic careers for several of its newly-minted Ph.D. fellows, including: Dr. Alycia LaGuardia-LoBianco (Grand Valley State University), Dr. Adam Betts (Bloomsburg University), Dr. Doyle Hodges (Texas National Security Review), Dr. Andrew Bell (Indiana University), Dr. Michael Robillard (University of Notre Dame), Dr. Ashleen Bagnulo (Texas State University), Dr. Jesse Kirkpatrick (George Mason University), Dr. Bradley Strawser (Naval Postgraduate School) and Dr. Valerie Morkevicius (Colgate University).
Academic Year 2024-25 Research Effort
The 2025 McCain Conference topic More information coming soon.
In addition to this year’s fellows, the following Stockdale staff are participating in this year’s work:
Dr. Ed Barrett, Director of Strategy and Research, Stockdale Center, U.S. Naval Academy
Dr. David Luban, the Distinguished Chair of Ethics, Stockdale Center, U.S. Naval Academy
Mr. Mitt Regan, Senior Research Fellow, Stockdale Center, U.S. Naval Academy
Current Fellows
Generously funded by USNA Classes of 1958, 1962, 1973 and by a 10 year gift of support from Donald and Beverly Freeman.
Dr. Adil Haque - Senior Research Fellow, Donald and Beverly Freeman Fellow
Professor Haque’s scholarship focuses on the international law of armed conflict and the philosophy of international law. His first book, Law and Morality at War, was the subject of a symposium in Ethics, a review essay in the European Journal of International Law, and several reviews in leading journals. His work has been cited by the European Court of Human Rights and by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions in her report on the use of armed drones for targeted killing. Professor Haque is frequently quoted by the media on questions of international law, including by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the Economist, and CNN.
Professor Haque received his J.D. in 2005 from Yale Law School, where he was an executive editor of the Yale Journal of International Law and a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. From 2005 to 2006, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jon O. Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 2006 to 2008, Professor Haque was an associate in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he focused on white-collar criminal investigations and prisoners’ rights litigation. Professor Haque joined the Rutgers Law faculty in 2008.
Dr. Chris Eberle - USNA Class of 1973 Fred Minier Resident Ethics Fellow
Christopher J Eberle is Professor of Philosophy at the United States Naval Academy where he has taught since 2001. He specializes in the areas of religion, politics, and war. He has two books on related topics: Religious Conviction in Liberal Politics (Cambridge, 2002) and Justice and the Just War Tradition (Routledge, 2016). His published articles include: “Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom: Religious Reasons in Public Life,” Journal of Legal Commentary (2007); “Religious Conviction in the Profession of Arms,” Journal of Military Ethics (2012); “Just Cause and Cyber War,” Journal of Military Ethics (2013); “Rights, Goods, and Proportionate War,” The Monist (2016); “The Continuing Question for the Grail: Michael Perry on Religion in Politics,” Emory Law Journal (2022). He is currently working on a third book: Love and Faith at War: Reflections on a Platoon Commander in Fallujah.
Dr. Fissell - USNA Class of 1964 Fellow
Brenner M. Fissell is professor of law (with tenure) at Villanova Law. For the 2024-2025 academic year, he is also the Class of 1964 fellow at the United States Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, as well as the chair of faculty appointments at Villanova Law. He is the law school’s representation on the University Faculty Congress Executive Committee.
Brenner Fissell’s research focuses on substantive criminal law, especially as it relates to the criminal law of local governments and the misdemeanor criminal legal system. A secondary research interest is military law. Fissell’s scholarship has appeared in general law reviews such as the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Minnesota Law Review, as well as peer-reviewed journals such as Legal Theory. Fissell is co-convener of the NYC Criminal Law Colloquium (the Markelloquium!).
Fissell’s primary practice experience is in military justice. He first entered the legal academy in 2018 from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, where he was appellate defense counsel at the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions. In this capacity, he served as a consultant on legal strategy and appellate issues to the defense teams representing detainees charged with war crimes. Prior to that he served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Scott Stucky of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces—the nation’s highest military court. Fissell remains active in reform efforts and pro bono consultation relating to the military justice system. He is Vice-President of the National Institute for Military Justice, a learned society dedicated to the fair administration of justice in the armed forces and improved public understanding of military justice. Fissell continues to actively represent military service members in military and federal courts.
Dr. Theodore Christov - USNA Class of 1962 Fellow
Theodore Christov is an associate professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University with an interest in political theory and modern intellectual history. Born and raised in Bulgaria, he was educated at Harvard and UCLA. He joined GW in 2011 after having taught political theory at Northwestern University. He is interested in how ideas shape and drive international politics from the 17th century to the present, particularly arguments over the moral basis for war and international aggression. He studies the transformation from empires to states by tracing the “international turn” in the history of political thought. He is the author of Before Anarchy: Hobbes and His Critics in Modern International Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2016), which examines early modern European debates over the external relations of states, and how such debates have been de-historicized in contemporary international relations.