Beth Valentine

My research interests focus on the intersection of law and ethics, viewing questions about the former as an application of the latter. In both, we are tasked with asking how we – either as individual persons or a political entity – should treat others. My work addresses topics relevant to both areas (e.g. consent and justification of punishment) and applies the tools of one trade to another (e.g. philosophy’s possible worlds semantics to but-for causation in tort law).

Publications

Co-author, "UND's Journey to Create a More Inclusive Learning Environment," Fierce Education, June 6, 2023. 

"Why We Should Assume the Risk: An argument for consent-based assumption of risk,” New Directions in Private Law Theory, UCL Press, 2023.

"Abetting A Crime: A New Approach," Law and Philosophy, 41 (2022). Refereed.

“Sports and Consent: Why Isn’t a Tackle Assault and Battery?” Northern Plains Ethics Journal, VII.1 (Fall 2019), pp. 1-20.

 “Book Review: Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration by Anthony Bradley,” Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books, March 2019. Invited

 “Constructive ‘Consent’: A Problematic Fiction,” Law and Philosophy, 37.5 (Oct. 2018), pp. 499-521. Refereed

 “Defense Categories and the (Category-Defying) De Minimis Defense,” Criminal Law and Philosophy, 11.3 (Sept. 2017), pp. 545–559. Refereed

"Critical Précis on David Enoch's “Hypothetical Consent and the Value(s) of Autonomy”, PEA Soup Blog, Oct. 2017. Invited.

Selected Presentations

University of North Dakota, Feb. 2025, invited
          Panel discussion on LEADS Strategic Plan

Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity , Feb. 2024, refered
           “Accessibility First: Designing and Effective and Proactive Procurement Policy for Digital Products”

Medical Library Association (MLA), Feb. 2024, invited
            “Digital Accessibility Review: How to Prepare for Possible Online Accessibility Issues Before They Arise”

Online Dakota Information Network (ODIN), Apr. 2023,
            “Digital Accessibility Review: How to Prepare for Possible Online Accessibility Issues Before They Arise”

North American Virtual Reference Online Conference, refereed
Online, Feb. 2023
         "Ready, Set, Oh No? Prepare for Possible Online Accessibility Issues Before They Arise"

Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Annual Conference, refereed
Chicago, IL, Apr. 2022
          "Diversity and Inclusion in Your Higher Education Workforce"

Selected Philosophy and Legal Theory Presentations
New Directions in Private Law Theory, invited
University College London, Nov. 2021
           "Why We Should Assume the Risk" (working title)

Conference in Honor of Douglas Husak, invited
Rutgers University, NJ, Oct. 2020
            “The Crime of Abetting a Crime” (working title)

Virginia Normative Ethics Workshop, invited
Lake Anne, VA, Mar. 2020
            “Hypothetical Consent: They How’s and Why’s of Taking it Seriously”

New Directions in Philosophy of Law, invited
University of Surrey, Jul. 2019
            “The Crime of Abetting a Crime”

Legal Theory Reading Group Seminar Series, refereed
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, Nov. 2017
            “Two Helpful Misconceptions about Informed Consent”

Yale Law and Philosophy Society, invited
Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, Apr. 2017
            “Some Helpful Misconceptions about Informed Consent: Why Informed Consent is an Improper Subset of Consent”

Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship and Constitutionalism Graduate Workshop, refereed
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 2017
            “Constructive Consent: A Problematic Fiction”

Sixth Annual Yale Law School Doctoral Scholarship Conference, refereed
Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, Nov. 2016
            “A Theory of Counterfactuals for Torts”

Charles Widger School of Law, workshop, invited speaker
Villanova University, Villanova, PA, Oct. 2016
            “Constructive ‘Consent’: A Problematic Fiction”

Spring Legal Theory Festival, hosted by Edinburgh Legal Theory Research Group, invited
Edinburgh Law School, Edinburgh, UK, May – Jun. 2016
            “Retributivism Refined: An Expressivist Hope”

Rutgers-Lund Graduate Conference, refereed
Lund University, Lund, Sweden, May 2016
            “Hypothetical Consent and the Non-identity Problem”

Ontario Legal Philosophy Partnership Graduate Student Conference, refereed
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 2016
            “Constructive ‘Consent’: A Dangerous Fiction”

3rd Annual TAU Workshop for Junior Scholars in Law: Theory Coming to Life, refereed
Tel-Aviv University, Buchmann Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv, Israel, Oct. 2015
            “A Theory of Counterfactuals for Negligence: Possible World Semantics and Torts”

XXVII World Congress on the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, IVR, refereed
Washington, D.C., Jul. 2015
           “The De Minimis Defense: A Problematic Defense for Classification” (Jul. 27)
            “A Theory of Counterfactuals for Negligence” (Jul. 30)

ADA Coordinator Training Certification, Great Plains ADA Center and University of Missouri, 2023

DHS Trusted Tester Certification, Dept. of Homeland Security, Office of Accessibile Systems & Technology, 2023

Inclusive Workplace Culture Specialty Credential, Society for Human Resource Management, 2022 

Certified Affirmative Action Professional, American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity, 2021

Omicron Delta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa

AAAED, President's Award, 2021 and 2024

Rutgers University, Graduate School of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ
Ph.D., Philosophy Department, Oct. 2017
            Dissertation: Fictitious Consents: What They Are and What They Can Do
Committee: Doug Husak (chair), Larry Temkin, Alec Walen, Adil Haque (Rutgers School of Law), Heidi Hurd (University of Illinois, College of Law)

Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
Master of Studies in Law, May 2015

Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
B.A. in Philosophy and in Politics, Dec. 2010
­            summa cum laude, with honors in Philosophy

Anthology Accessibility Adivsory Council, Member

Staff Senate, Member