One of the greatest weapons that authoritarians past and present have enlisted to suppress democratic freedoms worldwide is language — specifically its ability to distort reality and reinforce ideologies that foster social hierarchies.
Accomplished philosopher Jason Stanley, who joins from Yale University to assume the Bissell-Heyd-Associates Chair in American Studies at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, is an expert on this particular aspect of the dictator’s playbook.
The newly appointed professor in U of T’s Department of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts & Science has written extensively on the themes of authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration and democracy for both academic and general audiences, including in his award-winning 2015 book How Propaganda Works, published by Princeton University Press.
This winter at Munk, Stanley will teach a second-year course, called Understanding Global Controversies, exploring “the way that language is used to wield power and to obscure reality by reinforcing ideologies that problematically distort reality.”
“We will grapple with the way human communication is enmeshed in the project of reinforcing hierarchies of value between groups,” he says. “Throughout, we will be guided by concrete examples, both historical and contemporary, in the Middle East, Asia and America.”
“Professor Stanley is a timely choice for the Bissell-Heyd-Associates Chair in American Studies,” says Dr. Paul M. Cadario, president of the Associates of the University of Toronto Inc., the New York-headquartered charity that helps American alumni and friends, and US-based corporations and foundations, support U of T. In 1997, it endowed the Bissell-Heyd-Associates Professorship in American studies. “His scholarship in linguistic philosophy bridges the highest standards of academic rigour with solid commitment to respectful public engagement — precisely the combination this role was designed to support.”
He adds: “At a time when questions of truth, democracy and justice are at the forefront of global concern, Professor Stanley brings clarity, courage and intellectual leadership to the conversation. We welcome him, and we look forward to the contributions he will make to [Munk’s] Centre for the Study of the United States in this next chapter.”
In addition to his position at the Munk School, Stanley is a distinguished professor at the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine. Prior to joining U of T this year, he was a professor of philosophy at Yale for 12 years, from 2013 to 2025.
Stanley has also held positions as a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University (from 2004 to 2013), the University of Michigan (2000 to 2004) and Cornell University (1995 to 2000).
Relishing the “freedom” that Toronto promises, Stanley hopes to instill in his students at U of T a sense of both of urgency and optimism when it comes to global affairs.
“The world faces existential threats,” he says, citing climate change and, now, “the rollback of democracy” globally.
“So right now it’s absolutely essential,” he adds, “to learn not only about democracy, but also what makes it stable, flourishing and good.”