Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Hofstra Philosophy Professor Ralph Acampora has been recognized in the 10th annual Animals and Society Course awards from The Humane Society of the United States for “An(im)alogies of Moral Monstrosity,” a course he designed and teaches on the parallels between forms of institutional animal exploitation and atrocities perpetrated upon humankind.

"This year's submissions, international in scope, affirm the vitality of the human-animal studies field, and the rising importance of animals as a topic of public and scholarly interest," said Humane Society senior policy adviser Bernard Unti.

Dr. Acampora received the Humane Society’s Distinguished New Course Award. Of the 17 submissions received, seven were from universities overseas- including institutions in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Israel. Award categories recognized both new and established academic courses. The Humane Society and the Animals and Society Institute judged the entries on criteria such as depth and rigor within the topic, impact on the study of animals and society, and originality of approach. The academic departments of the established and new course award winners will each receive $1,500.

"I'm gratified for my work in animal studies to be recognized in this way, and look forward to the speaker visits the award will make possible as the Philosophy Department moves to establish a new Center for Values and Public Policy," said Dr. Acampora.

Dr. Acampora teaches in the areas of applied ethics and history of (especially modern) philosophy. He conducts research in the fields of environmental philosophy, bioethics, and animal studies. He is the author of Corporal Compassion: Animal Ethics and Philosophy of Body
(University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006), co-edited A Nietzschean Bestiary (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), has published work in a variety of books and journals, edits the 'Animal Theory' section of Society & Animals, and is a member of the editorial collective for Humanimalia. Dr. Acampora is currently editing a book on post-zoo forms of animal encounter entitled Zootopian Visions: Farewell to Noah (Lexington Books of Rowman & Littlefield).

After earning a B.A./M.A. at CUNY, Dr. Acampora received his doctorate at Emory University.

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