Cynthia Halpern received a B.A. from Newcomb College, Tulane University, an M. Phil. from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. She was an Associate Professor of Political Science in the area of Political Theory. She taught Ancient Political Theory, Modern Political Theory, Ethics and Public Policy, and courses in Interpretation Theory on terror, violence, and technology/media.

She is the author of Suffering, Politics Power: A Genealogy in Modern Political Thought (SUNY Press, 2002) and has written about the politics of suffering, violence, and history. She specializes in Nietzsche, Foucault, Ricoeur and Levinas, among other theorists. She is at work on a new book on Terror, Violence and the Politics of Response.