Darren Yau, Ph.D.

Education

PhD, Religion and Program in Political Philosophy, Princeton University, 2026
BA, Philosophy, Wheaton College, 2017

Biography

Dr. Darren Yau is Assistant Professor of Theology, Ethics, and Politics at Baylor Honors College in the Great Texts program. His research focuses on American and European religious and political thought, with particular interest in philosophical questions about citizenship, democracy, justice, and race. He is currently working on a book manuscript on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and his ethics of social reform.

Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, Yau worked at a law firm serving nonprofits and churches in Chicago, an experience that deepened his interest in the relationship between faith, justice, and public life. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Wheaton College before completing a Ph.D. in Religion and the Program in Political Philosophy at Princeton University in 2026. Yau joined the faculty in August 2026.

You can learn more about him at his personal website.

Selected Writings

"Direct Action and Political Coercion: Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Ramsey as Theorists of Nonviolence," Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, vol. 44, no. 2 (2024), pp. 341–357.