Joining Toronto’s ‘intellectual centre’

October 26, 2016

The department warmly welcomes new faculty member Torrey Shanks who joins the UTSC department from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University of Albany (SUNY). Professor Shanks completed her PhD in Political Science at Northwestern University and is excited about meeting her new students. “I’m very happy to join the department because of its rich and diverse intellectual community. Toronto is such a dynamic and international city and its exciting to join its intellectual centre. The department has a long and deep tradition in the study of political theory and I especially look forward to working with the excellent graduate students here.”

Professor Shanks’ research includes the history of political thought, feminist theory and language and politics. Her recent and ongoing projects focus on early modern political thought and rhetoric, particularly the work of John Locke and the social contract tradition. Recently she has been exploring rhetorical uses of property and possession in early modern political theory and contemporary feminist thought which has taken her to the work of C. B. Macpherson and his account of possessive individualism which she said “is particularly exciting” to be undertaking in the department where he formulated this influential concept.