Kyle Knott is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Comparative Studies at the Ohio State University. He began his career working in city management and economic development, where he saw first-hand the realities of social, cultural, and economic inequalities in community politics. Kyle was initially a Ph.D. student at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. His work in public policy and management included assisting with partnerships with The Ohio State University Office of Outreach and Engagement, the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, and the United States Department of Agriculture. He now studies at the Department of Comparative Studies to explore more interdisciplinary and justice-oriented avenues of research. His current research interests include the American philosophy of pragmatism, intersectionality, semiotics, and democratic and critical theory—especially queer theory and critical race theory. 

Kyle's work is driven by a passion for understanding how to convince political leaders, especially policy makers, to share power with historically marginalized groups. Through his community-engaged scholarship, he seeks to join a long, ongoing tradition of American progressives who struggled for more egalitarian and liberatory politics. Historical thinkers in this lineage include John Dewey, Jane Addams, and Eugene V. Debs, while examples of contemporary thinkers are Martha Nussbaum, Cornel West, Richard Rorty, Norman Denzin, and Patricia Hill Collins.