Seana Shiffrin, professor of philosophy and Pete Kameron Professor of Law and Social Justice, will be honored with the 2016 Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching, given annually to a professor who has made an outstanding commitment to teaching. She will receive the award at the 37th Rutter Award ceremony on April 20.
Professor Shiffrin, a member of the UCLA Law faculty since 1996, teaches courses on moral and political philosophy as well as contracts, freedom of speech, constitutional rights and individual autonomy, remedies and legal theory.
“As anyone who has taken a course from Professor Shiffrin or observed her teaching can attest," said Dean Jennifer Mnookin, "she is someone who deeply and passionately cares about teaching, and who successfully places high intellectual demands on our students while treating them with kindness and respect. It is wonderful that our community can recognize both her distinction in and commitment to teaching with this award.”
Professor Shiffrin’s research addresses issues in moral, political and legal philosophy, as well as matters of legal doctrine. Her recent work has focused on freedom of speech, truth-telling, promising, contract and the role of law in facilitating and fostering moral character. She served as an associate editor of Philosophy and Public Affairs for 16 years, and she recently published "Speech Matters: Lying, Morality and the Law" (Princeton University Press, 2014). She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
