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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCT. 14, 2004
CONTACT: Kris Fettkether 515-271-2833
NATIONAL ETHICIST TO SPEAK AT DRAKE LAW SCHOOL
EVENT CANCELED
The Constitutional Law Center at Drake University Law School will welcome nationally
renowned ethicist Anita Allen as part of its 2004-05 Constitutional Law Distinguished
Lecture Series. Allen, the Henry R. Silverman professor of law and professor
of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, will present “Law Floats
on a Sea of Ethics" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in Room 213 of Cartwright
Hall, 27th Street and Carpenter Avenue. One hour of continuing legal education
(CLE) credit has been applied for.
The title of the lecture, which is free and open to the public, refers to a
statement by former Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who said, "In civilized
society, law floats on a sea of ethics." Allen’s lecture will candidly
explore the 21st Century American ethics scene. She will address what it means
for society in general, and for lawyers and judges in particular, to see so
many social sectors permeated by ethical failures, to experience value uncertainty
brought on by change, and to witness an undercommitment to justice.
Drawing on her new book, "The New Ethics: A Guided Tour of the 21st Moral
Century Landscape," Allen will explain the difficulty of adhering to ethical
and moral standards but suggest that the fate of the Titanic need not be the
fate of our democracy. Allen's book has drawn praise from leading scholars such
as Cornell West of Princeton University, who said, "This is a fascinating
and illuminating book. It is the most original work I've read on our contemporary
lived experience. Don't miss it!"
Allen is a graduate of New College and has served on its board of trustees.
She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan
and later earned her law degree from Harvard University. Professor Allen briefly
practiced law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
For more than a decade, Allen was a member of the faculty of Georgetown University
Law Center, where she served as associate dean. She also was the first black
woman to teach philosophy at Carnegie-Mellon and the first black woman on the
Pittsburgh law faculty. She has been a visiting professor at Yale Law School,
Villanova Law School, and Harvard Law School. During the 2003-04 academic year,
Allen was a law and public affairs fellow of the Woodrow Wilson School and visiting
professor at Princeton University.
Allen has been an ethics consultant for industry and government. She also is
a nationally known expert on the law and ethics of privacy. She is the author
of "Why Privacy Isn’t Everything," "Privacy Law" (with
R. Turkington), and "Uneasy Access: Privacy for Women in a Free Society."
In addition to her books, Allen has published more than 70 articles.
For more information about the Constitutional Law Distinguished Lecture series,
contact Drake Law School at 515-271-2988.
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