Shefali Misra Associate Professor of Political Science

Shefali Misra

Bio

Ph.D. Brandeis University
M.A. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
B.A. University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India;

I have taught at Saint Michael’s College since 2009, before which I taught briefly at Oberlin College, Ohio. My research relates to the challenges of combining diversity with the civic cohesion demanded by democracy, both from the perspective of designated “outsiders” and of “members” who collectively make decisions about bestowing or withholding membership. UntiI 2000, I was a financial and political journalist for four English-language national dailies in New Delhi, India, for 11 years. In that role I traveled widely and wrote about international relations, and especially the politics of global trade. During that time, I reported for my home newspapers from Singapore, Geneva, London, Brussels, Geneva, Berlin, Bonn, Paris, and Seattle. My teaching of political theory and practice is thoroughly informed by this professional experience of “real” world politics and as well as the personal experience of spending over half of my life in the world’s most diverse developing country. I always strive to give students a flavor of the reality of the world in which we live and how that both shapes and circumscribes the possibilities of the world that we might one day live in.

Areas of Expertise:

Political Theory and History of Political Thought
International Relations and Political Economy

Courses I Teach:

(Modern) Western Political Thought
Multiculturalism in Theory and Practice
Introduction to Politics
Feminist Political Thought
Democracy and its Critics
Identity in Politics
Introduction to International relations
Politics of the World Economy

Research Interests:

History of Political Thought, Liberal political thought, Rousseau’s Political thought, Democracy and diversity, Nationalism and citizenship, Politics of identity. My publications are in the fields of liberalism, multiculturalism, and Rousseau’s political thought and my current research is on the relationship between democracy, liberalism, and nationalism.

Research

I am currently researching the relationship between democracy, nationalism, and liberalism and Rousseau’s political thought. I am interested in studying the History of Political Thought, Liberal political thought, Rousseau’s Political thought, Democracy and diversity, Nationalism and citizenship, Politics of identity.

My publications are in the fields of liberalism, multiculturalism, and Rousseau’s political thought and my current research is on the relationship between democracy, liberalism, and nationalism.

Recent News

Shefali Misra of the political science faculty joined a Saint Michael’s community Zoom conversation about the crisis in Ukraine in February sponsored by the College’s new Center for Global Engagement, illustrating the important practical utility of such a Center to help people understand and process world issues affecting their lives. President Lorraine Sterritt joined scores of students, college leaders, faculty and staff tuning in by Zoom to hear a panel consisting of Trish and other Saint Michael’s faculty from Political Science and International Relations, who took turns describing important insights, nuances and undercurrents that might escape Americans who only superficially are following news about Ukraine. The other contributing faculty experts were Professors Michael Bosia, Daniel Simmons, Patricia Siplon and the event’s host, Jeffrey Ayres (top right), director of the Center for Global Engagement.
(posted July 2022)