Dr. Shannon Kincaid's Biography

I was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1966. I grew up on the Arkansas/Missouri border in the Ozark Mountains, finally graduating from a small rural high school in Farmington, Arkansas. Throughout high school and into college, I worked as a line cook in several area restaurants, and dabbled in photography, cinematography, and electronics. Dissatisfied with my initial experiences in a university setting, I moved to New York City in the late 1980’s.

During my first years in New York, I slowly worked my way up in the restaurant industry, eventually serving as an executive chef in a Greenwich Village restaurant (Cajun/Creole), and finally, as the sous-chef of a large catering firm on Wall Street.

I left cooking to return to school full-time. Having developed a deep interest in issues of morality and social justice, and after deciding to pursue a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the State University of New York College at Cortland, I graduated summa cum laude.  I was awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy from SUNY/Buffalo in 1999, defending a dissertation that analyzed the relationships between democracy, morality, and culture.

I started my academic career at CUNY that same year, teaching both full and part time at Brooklyn College, and eventually reaching the rank of Associate Professor at Queensborough Community College.  My research and publications continue to focus on ethics, democratic institutions, and urban environments, and I’m deeply proud and honored to teach at Queensborough. 

I live in a massive housing project in Rego Park with my son (who is currently studying at LGCC) and our two cats.