Kathryn Abrams

Before entering academia, Kathy Abrams clerked for Judge Frank M. Johnson of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. She has taught at the law schools at Boston University, Indiana University-Bloomington, Harvard University and Northwestern University. Most recently, she was Professor of Law and Associate Professor of Ethics and Public Life at Cornell University. While at Cornell, she served as Director of the Women’s Studies Program, and won several awards for teaching and for service to women. She joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 2001.

Abrams teaches feminist jurisprudence, voting rights and constitutional law. Her scholarship has explored questions of employment discrimination, minority vote dilution, campaign finance, constitutional law, and law and the emotions, but it has focused most centrally on feminist jurisprudence. Within this area, Abrams has written on feminist methodology and epistemology, the jurisprudence of sexual harassment, and cultural and theoretical constructions of women’s agency.

Abrams’ recent publications include “Fighting Fire with Fire: Rethinking the Role of Disgust in Hate Crimes” in the California Law Review (2002), “Subordination and Agency in Sexual Harassment Law” in Directions in Sexual Harassment Law (2003), “Extraordinary Measures: Protesting Rule of Law Violations after Bush v. Gore” in Law & Philosophy (2002), and “The Legal Subject in Exile” in the Duke Law Journal (2001).

Education

B.A., Harvard University (1980)
J.D., Yale University (1984)

Kathryn Abrams is teaching the following courses in Fall 2024:

• 224.6 sec. 001 - Selected Topics in Reproductive Justice
• 287.7 sec. 001 - Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Law

Courses During Other Semesters

Semester	Course Num	Course Title	Teaching Evaluations
Spring 2025	212.32 sec. 001	Intersectionality in Gender-Based Movements for Legal Change
Spring 2024	212.31 sec. 001	Critical Theories of Law: Race, Gender, and Sexuality	View Teaching Evaluation
Fall 2023	281.92 sec. 001	Organizing for Reproductive Rights and Justice	View Teaching Evaluation
	287.7 sec. 001	Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Law	View Teaching Evaluation
Spring 2023	287.7 sec. 001	Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Law	View Teaching Evaluation