He received his PhD in 1988 from Columbia University, where he examined the ways Jean- Jacques Rousseau’s political theory rests on an understanding of the contribution of culture to citizenship. While continuing to work on Rousseau, he has also pursued an interest in environmental political theory. As a Fulbright Scholar at Queen’s University Belfast he is considering how Rousseau’s work can serve as a model for a political theory of the human habitation of the natural world. Zev gained some first-hand experience of the political dimension of habitation through his service on the Planning Commission for the City of Norman, Oklahoma.