Academic Renewal 2021: Meet Professor Priya Gupta

PRIYA GUPTA joined the Faculty as an associate professor in August 2021 after completing a year-long term as a Senior Wainwright Fellow. She conducts research in financial capitalism and cities, property law, and race. Gupta joined McGill from Southwestern Law School. She holds a PhD in law from the London School of Economics.

What fascinates you about property, public international law, and critical race theory?

Throughout my academic career, I have pursued research in property, race, urban governance, and international law & development with the idea that I could — as a legal scholar — contribute to literature that exposes how law and governance often perpetuate inequality despite frequent attempts to achieve the opposite. This motivation has informed my research in different ways: to study different jurisdictions, to integrate political-economic and historical contexts into legal analysis, and to pay attention to the role of courts and municipal governance bodies in justifying certain patterns of distribution. I have explored these themes in a number of jurisdictions, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India, as well as transnationally.

Quels sont vos objectifs dans votre nouveau rôle?

Je suis très impatiente de faire la connaissance du corps étudiant et de travailler ensemble sur des projets de recherche et de plaidoirie. J’ai lancé un groupe de lecture sur le droit et la race cette année et je suis ravie de continuer avec ce groupe dans les années à venir. Je suis également très enthousiaste à l’idée de vivre à Montréal et d’explorer son architecture, sa musique, ses librairies et ses restaurants à mesure que la pandémie s’atténuera.