Teresa Brennan

Teresa Brennan (January 5, 1952 – February 3, 2003) was an Australian feminist philosopher and psychoanalytic theorist. She is best known for her posthumously published book, 'The Transmission of Affect' (2004). Brennan held the position of Schmidt Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Florida Atlantic University, where she established a PhD program aimed at training public intellectuals, including scholars, curators, archivists, organizers, and environmentalists. Her earlier works, such as 'Interpretations of the Flesh: Freud and Femininity' and 'History After Lacan,' delved into psychoanalytic social theory. Later, 'Exhausting Modernity: Grounds for a New Economy' and 'Globalization and Its Terrors' explored Marxist and ecofeminist perspectives on energetic depletion. 'The Transmission of Affect' examined physiological and psychosocial research challenging sociobiology, focusing on phenomena like stress, psychological projection, introjection of aggression, and the dynamics of social interactions. Brennan also edited two volumes and was a general editor for feminist series. Her academic contributions and influence were recognized posthumously, with a conference dedicated to her work and her papers archived at Brown University. She died as a result of injuries sustained in a hit-and-run car crash.