Legal Studies 394BI - American Courtroom Dramas

This course treats America's obsession with courtroom drama (real and fictional) as a window onto American culture. We will examine courtroom drama as a recurring trope in American literature, film, and television, and as a reflection of our expectations about what justice should look like. We will explore how real-life trials such as The Scopes Monkey Trial, The Scottsboro Case, The People vs. OJ Simpson, and the recent trial of George Zimmerman became focal points of public fascination and outrage. We will discuss the ways in which media coverage of courtroom drama filters and distorts national conversations about race and class. We will also use social science research and our own courtroom observations to understand the more mundane and routine way in which the American legal system typically operates. Thus, this course is a highly interdisciplinary investigation of American law and society. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Legal major.

Open to Senior and Junior Legal Studies majors only. Pre Req: LEGAL 250