Zoe Thomas
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Oday Salim
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Environmental Law & Sustainability Clinic / Law
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors:
Abstract
Scientists are in agreement about the catastrophic effects of climate change, and what must be done to prevent further damage to the earth. However, finding ways of enforcing this legally has proved challenging. One possible strategy investigated in this project involves affording some type of legal rights or personhood to the animals and natural resources that are harmed by humans and their pollution. Legal efforts internationally, like those in New Zealand, Ecuador, and India, as well as those in the United States, set a groundwork for the kinds of protections that could be put in place in the future. The idea of personhood in particular is powerful because it requires moving beyond the confines of anthropocentrism, and instead concerning oneself firstly with the needs of nature outside their benefits to humans. In order to convey these ideas to law students, our research investigated various sources of art, media, and literature that require the viewer to contemplate the sentience of non-humans. From the literature of great writers and philosophers of the past to the popular television and film of today, many artists have considered which entities should be afforded rights, and what sentience looks like in non-humans. Overall, the goal of this research is to allow law students a context through which to learn about the legal framework of personhood for nature by finding art that promotes the understanding of and empathy for entities other than human beings.
