To what extent can we change our world by changing our laws? We will explore this question through an intensive study of Karl Marx’s writings. Although Marx is most widely known for his arguments about political economy and revolution, his earliest scholarly energies were devoted to jurisprudence, and throughout his life he frequently returned to questions about the law’s nature, possibilities, and limits.
Recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court that posit corporations as persons transform our law, culture and understanding of what it means to be a "person" (Citizens United (2010); Hobby Lobby (2014). This course concerns the corporate person and the assumptions behind this legal doctrine, derived from the the law of the household. We will explore corporate legal theory, its compatibility with public law and the corporation’s access to rights.
(Offered as LJST 219 and SWAG 219.) Every day on the news the same drama of liberal and Islamic mutual incomprehension plays out. In flare-ups over cartoons and Mohammed, or the veil and citizenship, the same comments repeat themselves. This repetitiveness begs the question of what constitutes liberalism, and whether religious belief, specifically Islam (but also in sensational coverage of practices such as polygamy), might be anathema to liberalism. If the American Constitution cherishes religious expression, why do even mainstream, dominant religions in the U.S.
In our world, commitment to "equality" in one sense/form or another is nearly uncontested. At the same time, the form that it should take, its normative ground, scope, limits and conditions, the ways in which it may be realized, and much else are deeply contested. It is also the case that the world in which we live is characterized by profound, enduring and intensifying inequalities and numerous exceptions to the principle. These may be justified with reference to various countervailing commitments that are accorded ethical or practical priority (desert, liberty,
This course examines the ways in which historical thinking and imagining operate in the domain of law. History and law are homologous and tightly linked. Law in various guises uses history as its backbone, as a lens through which to view and adjudicate tangled moral problems, and as a means of proof in rendering judgment. Questions of history and precedent are integral to an understanding of the way language and rhetoric operate in the very creation of legal doctrine. Moreover, law’s use of history also has a history of its own, and our present understanding of
This course will examine the relationship between legal institutions and democratic practice. How do judicial decisions balance the preferences of the majority and the rights of minorities? Is it possible to reconcile the role that partisan dialogue and commitment play in a democracy with an interest in the neutral administration of law? How does the provisional nature of legislative choice square with the finality of judicial mandate?
Fall and spring semester. Members of the Department.
See course description for LATI 441. In 2015-16 LATI 442 will read Selections from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Three class hours per week. Seminar course.
Requisite: LATI 215, 316, 441 or equivalent. Spring semester. Professor Zanker.
An introduction to the literature and culture of Augustan Rome through a close reading of selections from Augustan authors. Three class hours per week.
Requisite: LATI 202, 215 or equivalent. Spring semester. Professor van den Berg.
This course aims at establishing reading proficiency in Latin. Forms and syntax will be reviewed throughout the semester. We will read selections from Caesar's De Bello Gallico and possibly other authors. Three class hours per week.
Requisite: LATI 111 or equivalent. Spring semester. Professor van den Berg.
