The Annual Tom Regan Memorial Lecture

In 2018, CAF instituted the Annual Tom Regan Memorial Lecture to celebrate the life and thought of philosopher, animal advocate, and CAF co-founder Tom Regan, who died in February 2017. The lecture, is delivered by a leading scholar of animal rights. To watch any or all of the lectures, click here or on the image below.

The Lecturers

2025: Sarah Scott, professor of philosophy at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY, will talk on the the philosophical and political legacy of the extraordinary Anglo-Irish philosopher, theologian, social reformer, and leading anti-vivisectionist Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904). The lecture will take place in the 150th anniversary year of the founding of the National Anti-Vivisection Society in the UK, and the 40th anniversary of CAF’s founding. The respondent will be Sue Leary, President Emerita of the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (ARDF) and the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS), who will reflect on the current efforts to end invasive animal experimentation in the context of a 150-year struggle.
2024: Dinesh Wadiwel, Associate Professor in human rights and socio-legal studies in the School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia, presented “Animal Rights and Capitalism,” at the The Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School. The respondent was Lori Gruen, William Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University.
2023: Cheryl Abbate (above left), Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, presented “The Philosophy of Animal Rights: A Way of Life or Religion?” The respondent was CAF advisory board member and leading animal rights philosopher Dale Jamieson. The lecture was co-hosted by The Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School.
2022: In October, Charlotte E. Blattner, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Berne, Switzerland, Faculty of Law lectured on “Transitional Justice and Animal Rights.” Her respondent was Will Kymlicka, Canada Research Chair in Political Philosophy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and the event was co-hosted by Zurich-based Tier im Recht.
2022: In May (at the British Animal Studies Network) and July 2022 (at UK Centre for Animal Law, Visions of the Future conference), CAF advisory board member and independent scholar Kim Stallwood (above, right) gave a presentation entitled “The Martin Bicentenary: An Opportunity to Look Back and Imagine the Future,” in which he reflected on the legacy of the two hundred years of animal advocacy since The Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act, sponsored by Irish Member of Parliament Richard “Humanity Dick” Martin, was passed by the British parliament.
2021: CAF advisory board member and Black vegan feminist scholar Syl Ko presented “Re-centering the Human,” in collaboration with Rev. Christopher Carter of the University of San Diego.
2020: Postponed due to the COVID pandemic.
2019: Late legal scholar Sherry F. Colb, C.S. Wong Professor of Law at Cornell University, presented “Subjects of a Death,” at the Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress in Boulder, Colorado.
2018, Feminist theorist Carol J. Adams gave the inaugural Regan Memorial Lecture, entitled “Animal Ethics and Contemporary Politics.”

“It’s incredible to have a memorial lecture so that we can lift up what Tom has done, reflect on it, and continue to help shape new animal rights theory, new animal rights activism.”—Carol J. Adams

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