Sigal Ben-Porath

Dr. Ben-Porath received her doctorate in political philosophy from Tel Aviv University in 2000. She was awarded two successive Tel Aviv University President’s postdoctoral grants. In 2001-2004, she was a postdoctoral research associate at the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

Dr. Ben-Porath has been teaching at Penn GSE since 2004. At Penn, she served as a special assistant to the university president. She is executive committee member of the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, and chaired Penn's Committee on Open Expression 2015-2019. She is a professor of education and an associate member of the political science department and the philosophy department at Penn.

Dr. Ben-Porath’s research focuses on campus open expression, citizenship education, normative aspects of educational and social policy, and the social and educational effects of war.

Her areas of expertise include philosophy of education and political philosophy. Her books include Free Speech on Campus (2017) and Varieties of Sovereignty and Citizenship (2012), as well as Tough Choices: Structured Paternalism and the Landscape of Choice (2010) and Citizenship under Fire: Democratic Education in Times of Conflict (2006).