Dr. Orsola Torrisi

Biography

Orsola Torrisi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at McGill University. She holds a PhD in Demography/Population Studies from the London School of Economics, awarded in December 2022, where her thesis received the prestigious Titmuss Prize for PhD Thesis in Social Policy and the Valeria Solesin Prize from the Italian Statistical Society for the best thesis in Demography. Her research focuses on social demography, particularly in the contexts of armed violence and crises. Torrisi examines how such tumultuous environments affect family dynamics and sexual reproductive health outcomes. She is particularly interested in understanding the consequences of exposure to various forms of violence, including intimate partner violence and obstetric abuse in scenarios impacted by armed conflict. Furthermore, her work seeks to enhance demographic data collection methods in regions with weak vital registration systems, striving for better quality research in unstable settings. Before joining McGill, she served as a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University Abu Dhabi and as an Honorary Visiting Researcher at the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Orsola’s interdisciplinary approach tailors theoretical perspectives from sociology, economics, and demography, making significant contributions to understanding demographic processes in low- and middle-income countries.

Research Interests

Experience