Currently (Fall 202), Dr. Abbate is teaching Animal Ethics and the Law and Philosophy of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Here are the course descriptions and links to the syllabi:
Animal Ethics and the Law
*Service Learning
In Animals Ethics and the Law, students will think critically about the human-animal connection. Together, we will pursue meaningful investigations into what morality demands when it comes to human-animal interactions, and we will consider what legal systems must do to promote flourishing human-animal communities. This is a service learning course, and we will work in partner with All Friends Animal Sanctuary (Links to an external site.), a new local Las Vegas farmed animal sanctuary. While you will not be required to physically visit the sanctuary, you will “visit” the sanctuary virtually, and based on these “visits,” you will spend approximately 10 hours over the course of the semester helping to build aspects of the sanctuary’s website, to include: developing animal sponsorship packages, basic website design, and/or t-shirt design. This is a unique opportunity we have to help a brand-new sanctuary in its very important efforts to help save animal lives. Click here to view the course syllabus.
Philosophy and the Law
We will begin this course by considering theoretical questions about the nature of the law, and we will explore and contrast important theories of law, including natural law legal theory, legal positivism, and legal realism. In this first part of the course, we will focus on the connection between law and morality, considering whether there is a moral obligation to obey the law and whether civil disobedience can ever be morally justified. In the second part of the course, we will consider applied legal topics, including gun possession, affirmative action, capital punishment, and hate speech. In these discussions, we will engage with Supreme Court cases that involve conflicts between liberty and equality. Click here to view the course syllabus.
- Click here for my Teaching Statement
- Click here for my Diversity Statement
Dr. Abbate is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is also the co-director of the Society for the study of Ethics and Animals, the founder of the Animal Ethics from the Margins Project, and an associate editor of Between the Species. She received her PhD in philosophy from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2019. Dr. Abbate has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals including Acta Analytica, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Journal of European Philosophy, Journal of Social Philosophy, Social Epistemology, Social Theory and Practice, and Utilitas.