Professor Nathan Tarcov's scholarly interests include history of political theory, education and family in political theory, and principles of U.S. foreign policy. He has published Locke's Education for Liberty, Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, and The Legacy of Rousseau, and numerous articles on Machiavelli, Locke, the American founders, Leo Strauss, and such topics as constitutionalism, democracy and tyranny. He is one of the coordinators of the Political Theory Workshop and Director of The Leo Strauss Center.

Tarcov has been recognized for excellence in undergraduate teaching, receiving the University's Quantrell Award in 1997.