UH 120 - Law Through the Looking Glass
Traditionally, Constitutional Law is studied either chronologically, or topically by chronology – that is, structure is given to the field of study by when cases were decided (e.g. free speech cases, due process cases in chronological sequence). This course seeks to move in a different direction than the traditional study of Constitutional Law, focusing on numerically less cases, but examining the cases with greater intensity by closely analyzing, inter alia, the litigants, the judges, and the legal, cultural, historical, and popular environment.
In this course, we will explore law from a variety of perspectives. We will study the cases that are commonly and communally known by citizens of the United States, but we will search for deeper meaning and understanding about law within them. We will use the stories, and the cases that they describe, as jumping off points, drawing on them to discuss deeper issues of constitutional and public law.
While the course will cover a broad range of topics, and has a diversity of reading material, there are two questions that we will spend the most time on – and examine from the most angles. First, what theoretical, practical, and justice concerns go into deciding a case – how is it that so many litigants and justices use so many different reasons for deciding and understanding cases?! Second, what effect do cases decided last year, last decade, or last century have on our understanding of law today – how do we understand the law? It is the cultivation of that question – and our individual relationships with the law – that drive how we look at this course.
In this course, we will explore law from a variety of perspectives. We will study the cases that are commonly and communally known by citizens of the United States, but we will search for deeper meaning and understanding about law within them. We will use the stories, and the cases that they describe, as jumping off points, drawing on them to discuss deeper issues of constitutional and public law.
While the course will cover a broad range of topics, and has a diversity of reading material, there are two questions that we will spend the most time on – and examine from the most angles. First, what theoretical, practical, and justice concerns go into deciding a case – how is it that so many litigants and justices use so many different reasons for deciding and understanding cases?! Second, what effect do cases decided last year, last decade, or last century have on our understanding of law today – how do we understand the law? It is the cultivation of that question – and our individual relationships with the law – that drive how we look at this course.
