Law, Jurisp & Social Thought 364 - Law's Others

(Analytic Seminar)  “Can one divide human reality, as indeed human reality seems to be genuinely divided, into clearly different cultures, histories, traditions, societies, even races, and survive the consequences humanly?” This question –the question of the ordering of knowledge and its implications– lies at the heart of Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978). Nearly fifty years after its publication, it is hard to find a discipline in the humanities and the social sciences that has not been influenced by its powerful interventions. In this analytic seminar, we will use Said’s book as our guide to explore the entanglements of orientalism and the law. We will explore how the production, representation, and codification of modern knowledge shapes our understanding of what law can and cannot be. We will also examine the various ways in which the language and categories of law produce and sustain the distinction between the West and its Others. The historical stage for this examination, as in Said’s book, will be the encounter between the European “West” and the (Islamic, Asian) “Orient.” 

Limited to 15 students. Spring Semester. Professor Ben Ismail.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority given to juniors and senior LJST Majors in case of over-enrollment

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: written work (e.g. response papers, reading posts, book reviews), independent research under the instructor's guidance, and short oral presentations.