Courses & Programs of Study

Program Chairman: Dennis J. Hutchinson, LBQ 411, 702-9575

Secretary: Delores Jackson, C 330, 702-7148,

djackson@midway.uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The program in Law, Letters, and Society is concerned with law in civilian and customary legal systems, both historically and contemporaneously. The program is designed to develop the student's analytical skills to enable informed and critical examination of law broadly construed. The organizing premise of the program is that law is a tool of social organization and control, not simply an expression of will or aspiration, and that it is best understood by careful study of both rhetorical artifacts and empirical consequences of its application. Program requirements are constructed to support the organizing premise, and, because of the nature of the requirements, transfer students are not eligible to register as Law, Letters, and Society majors.

The program requires course work in three areas, although there is a reasonably broad latitude both expected and permitted in satisfaction of the distributional requirement. There is a substantial writing requirement; candidates for special honors are expected to produce further written work under the close supervision of a faculty member whose area of scholarly concern is related to the broad objectives of the program.

Application to the Program. Students must apply in Spring Quarter of their first year to enter the program in their second year. Application forms may be obtained from the Office of the New Collegiate Division in C 330. Applications are available in C 330 on Friday of tenth week of Winter Quarter and must be submitted to C 330 by noon on Friday of first week of Spring Quarter. Students are evaluated on the basis of the application statement and previous performance in the College. Because of the nature of the requirements of the program, no more than twenty-five students can be admitted per year; if more than twenty-five qualified students apply, admissions may be determined by interviews with the program chairman.

Program Requirements

Course work is required in three areas. After successfully completing the Introductory Course, students must take two courses in Letters and two courses in Society. In addition, students must complete six other courses that, while not necessarily offered or listed formally under either rubric, are substantively supportive of the topics, areas, skills, or concerns of the two areas. Courses satisfying the additional requirement are identified on a quarterly basis, and final approval of additional required course work is made on the basis of consultations between the student and the program chairman.

The Introductory Course. The introductory course must precede all other course work in the major, because it establishes the intellectual moorings of the program. The importance of the introductory course lies not in its content (indeed, its precise focus and scope may be different from year to year) but on its approach to the nature of law. In 2004-05, for example, the introductory course is Legal Reasoning, a study, based primarily on cases, of the classic conventions of legal argument in the Anglo-American legal system. In other years, the introductory course might be Roman Law or Greek Law, Medieval Law, or a text-based course on ancient legal philosophy, or a comparison of modern legal categories and policies with those of former societies and cultures. The objective is not so much to establish a historical foundation for modern studies as to demonstrate that legal systems are culturally rooted; that urgent, present concerns may obscure important characteristics of legal ideas and behavior; and that many recurrent themes in Western legal thought are shaped or driven by both common and uncommon features. Unlike many legal studies programs that attempt to orient study of the law in primarily contemporary debates, usually in the field of American constitutional law, the program seeks to organize its exploration of law as a system rather than as a forum or an instrument.

Other Course Work. After completing the introductory course, students must take two courses each in the Letters and Society divisions of the program, plus six other courses complementary to the required work, as outlined previously (the other six courses may be ones cross listed in the program or may be from other disciplines). Letters and Society are not meant as fixed or self-defining fields, but instead as organizational categories emphasizing two fundamental modes of examining law in a systemic fashion. Courses under the rubric of Letters (whether based in the program or in English, philosophy, or political theory) tend to be based on the study of literary and historical artifacts, such as cases, tracts, conventional literature, or other texts, and emphasize the ways in which law formally constitutes itself. Questions of interpretative and normative theory, rhetorical strategy, and the like are central to such courses. Society serves to organize studies from a variety of different disciplines (including history, political science, economics, and sociology) that try to measure, with different techniques and at different times, the effect of law on society. The combined objective is to treat law as an intellectual activity and as a phenomenon, and to emphasize that both occur in contexts that help to shape them, whether ancient or modern.

Research. In addition to satisfying the course requirements, each student in the program must produce evidence of sustained research in the form of a substantial research paper during either the junior or senior year and obtain approval of a member of the faculty, although not necessarily a member of the program faculty. Papers may be written in conjunction with Law, Letters, and Society courses, under the auspices of reading and research courses, or in a Research Seminar. (The paper is an independent requirement, however, and need not be accomplished in conjunction with enrollment in a specific course.) The scope, method, and objective of the paper, as well as its length, are subject to negotiation between the student and the instructor.

Summary of Requirements

1 Introductory Course

2 Letters courses

2 Society courses

6 other complementary courses

Honors. In Law, Letters, and Society, the primary requirement for honors is a distinguished senior paper. Students wishing to stand for Special Honors choose an instructor to work with, and jointly they decide whether the student does research and submits a paper for honors. Papers submitted pursuant to such agreements are examined by a second reader, who must agree with the primary instructor that special honors are merited. No formal grade requirement supplements these conditions.

Reading and Research Courses. For students with a legitimate interest in pursuing study that cannot be met by means of regular courses, there is an option of devising a reading and research course to be supervised by a member of the faculty and taken for a quality grade. Such courses may not be used to satisfy the requirements of either the two-course Letters or two-course Society requirements, but up to two such courses may be used to satisfy part of the other six required courses, with the written permission of the program chairman obtained in advance of initiation of the work.

Grading. Two of the six supplementary courses required in the program may, with the consent of the instructor, be taken on a Pass/No Credit basis.

Advising. Students who wish to major in Law, Letters, and Society must register for LLSO 24200 in Autumn Quarter of their second year. This requirement is not negotiable. Students should note that, as an interdisciplinary major, the progrm has a strictly limited enrollment and that registration for the Introductory Course is determined during the preceeding Spring Quarter by lottery. Upon deciding to major in Law, Letters, and Society, students should arrange to consult with the program chairman on their course of study in the program. Students should continue to consult with their College advisers on general degree requirements.

Faculty

A. Asmis, L. Behnke, J. Boyer, B. Cohler, J. Comaroff, C. Gray, A. Gugliotta,
D. Hutchinson, A. Kass, L. Kass, R. Lerner, M. Lilla, J. MacAloon, S. Meredith, W. Novak,
W. Olmsted, L. Pick, J. Redfield, G. Rosenberg, R. Saller, H. Sinaiko, D. Smigelskis,
T. Steck, N. Tarcov, D. Tracy, C. von Nolcken, D. Wray

Courses: Law, Letters, and Society (llso)

I. The Introductory Course

24200. Legal Reasoning. PQ: Open only to second-year students who are beginning the LLSO major with consent of instructor. This course is an introduction to legal reasoning in a customary legal system. The first part examines the analytical conventions that lawyers and judges purport to use. The second part examines fundamental tenets of constitutional interpretation. Both judicial decisions and commentary are used, although the case method is emphasized. D. Hutchinson. Autumn, 2004, 2005.

II. Letters

20601. American Revolution, 1763 to 1789. (=HIST 25300) For course description, see History. E. Cook. Spring.

20701. Human Science and the Law, 1850 to 2000. (=HIPS 22701, HIST 226062/33602) A. Winter, Staff. Spring.

20801. Law and Life in Ancient Rome. (=ANST 26100, CLAS 34300, CLCV 24300, HIST 20601/30601) For course description, see History. C. Grey. Spring, 2005.

21300. Writing Law. (=ENGL 11401, ISHU 21401) For course description, see English Language and Literature. L. McEnerney, K. Cochrane. Autumn, 2004.

22101. Introduction to Intellectual Property Law. Approaching intellectual property as a regulatory system while addressing policy concerns, this course examines theories and justifications for intellectual property protection. The course provides an overview of basic intellectual property structures: trade secrets, copyrights, patents, and trademarks. G. M. Whitley. Autumn, 2004.

22103. Criminal Law. A basic examination of the fundamental tenets of the criminal justice system, including the elements of liability and the requisites of certain crimes, including murder, rape, and crimes against the state. Defenses, including insanity and diminished capacity, are also considered. G. M. Whitley. Spring, 2005.

22400. Rhetorical Theories of Legal and Political Reasoning. (=HUMA 21400, IMET 32400, ISHU 22800/32800, SOSC 22400) This course uses Plato's Gorgias to raise the question of whether practical thinking is possible and considers responses to this question by such writers as Aristotle, Cicero, and Machiavelli. We study the methods and concepts that each writer uses to defend the cogency of legal, deliberative, or more generally political prudence against explicit or implicit charges that practical thinking is merely a knack or form of cleverness. W. Olmsted. Winter, 2005.

22900. Kinds and Arts of Storytelling. (=HUMA 22400, IMET 32900) Most recent talk about stories is solely in terms of narratives, one manner of storytelling. The course explores different kinds of stories through the reading of specific examples as well as reflects on what stories are and can do. In addition, students are given practice in reading stories with attention to how they are put together, especially as sustained sequences, a traditional concern of what have been called arts of storytelling. D. Smigelskis. Winter, 2005.

23110. Recent Ethical Reflections. (=HUMA 23110) The focus of this course is on some overlapping preoccupations of three eminent sophisticated contemporary thinkers: Stuart Hampshire, Bernard Williams, Judith Shklar. Each is suspicious of grand theories in part because they focus on the contingencies of the "ethical": individual choices about serious matters and the qualities of character which both inform and result from them. In addition, each features imagination in such activity and relies on imaginative materials as part of their analyses and arguments. Each also recognizes the importance of the "moral" and "political" as contexts which further inform and are to be shaped by the "ethical." The main texts are Hampshire's Innocence and Experience, Williams' Shame and Necessity, and Shklar's Ordinary Vices and The Faces of Injustice. D. Smigelskis. Spring, 2005.

24300. American Law and the Rhetoric of Race. (=LAWS 59800) This course examines the ways American law has treated legal issues involving race. Two episodes are studied in detail: the criminal law of slavery during the antebellum period and the constitutional attack on state-imposed segregation in the twentieth century. The case method is used, although close attention is paid to litigation strategy and judicial opinion. D. Hutchinson. Spring, 2006.

25811. Law and Social Theory. (=HIST 29502/39502) For course description, see History. W. Novak. Autumn.

28200. Machiavelli's Political Thought. (=PLSC 27215) For course description, see Political Science. J. McCormick. Winter, 2005.

III. Society

20501. Freedom and Slavery in Brazil. (=HIST 26502/36502) For course description, see History. D. Borges. Spring, 2005.

20602. American Political Culture, 1600 to 1820. (=HIST 28301/38301) For course description, see History. E. Cook. Autumn.

20910. War in Modern American Society. (=HIST 18000) For course description, see History. J. Sparrow. Spring, 2005.

21700. Constitution of Community. (=FNDL 23700, HUMA 22200, IMET 21100) Attention is once again being given to how a "we", a community, establishes itself. This interest often assumes that discussion and deliberation will play a, perhaps the major role, and often coincides with the notion that the organization of the community should be through government by discussion. This course will use one major example of the constitution of a community, the United States. This course is not a repetition of the typical "historical", "legal," or "philosophical" interpretations given and uses made of these events and texts. D. Smigelskis. Winter, 2006.

21800. Liberating Narratives. (=HUMA 23900, IMET 31800) Some reflective autobiographies written in mid-career are featured. The primary texts are Maxine Hong Kingston's The Women Warrior, Bill Bradley's Life on the Run, and James Watson's The Double Helix. Each exemplifies how some people have used various resources and strategies to increase their ability to act without simultaneously diminishing the similar abilities of others in situations which require overcoming systemically oppressive obstacles. This is in part accomplished through examples of how a flourishing in certain types of activities has been achieved and the kinds of satisfactions involved. D. Smigelskis. Spring, 2006.

22102. Copyright Law and Policy. Beginning with an overview of copyright law, this course examines the trend toward expansion of copyright protection through law and encryption, as well as considers whether these protections are overbroad, sufficient, or should be expanded. Topics include file-sharing services, the underlying motivations for sharing, and the liabilities of the various parties involved. G. M. Whitley. Winter, 2005.

22700. Constitutionalisms. (=HUMA 23701, IMET 37200). The primary readings are selections from Aristotle, Spinoza, Hegel, and Mill. These four are major examples of a tradition of preoccupations with what can reasonably be described as constitutions, though none fit what many consider to be the model of the United States. This tradition is further defined by a more specific preoccupation with what has been called autarchy. The reading selections for each thinker provides some sense of the larger and different analytic contexts in which these preoccupations can arise, all of which are distinguishable from most of the normal contexts and modes of analysis in which the Constitution of the United States is thought about. D. Smigelskis. Winter, 2005.

23000. Kinds of Sophisticated Lawyering. (=HUMA 22400, IMET 32700) Examples of the many things lawyers do and do well are presented. In addition, the implications of the ethical demands which arise during the course of such activities are explored as well as the extent to which each kind of functioning can or should serve as a model for other types of functioning within the profession. Some attention is given to the activities of judges, litigators, and lawyers as managers of others but there is also significant emphasis placed on the many things done in what was once called private as opposed to public law, such as obtaining multiparty agreements in contractual situations. D. Smigelskis. Spring, 2005.

23600. The Environment in U.S. History. (=ENST 23600, HIST 19000) For course description, see Environmental Studies. A. Gugliotta. Offered 2005-06; not offered 2004-05.

24011. The Political Nature of the American Judicial System. (=PLSC 22515) For course description, see Political Science. G. Rosenberg. Winter, 2005.

24801. Civil Rights Movement, Civil Rights Law. This course is a study of the interplay between law, legislation, and political action in civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s. It is centered on the implementation of the "promise" of Brown v. Board of Education during the first two decades following the decision, which invalidated state-imposed segregation in public schools. The focus is two-fold: on the legal strategies of the antagonists, and on the growing division within the movement and between the movement and those charged with making civil rights into law. D. Hutchinson. Spring, 2005.

24901. U.S. Environmental Policy. (=ENST 24701, PBPL 24701) For course description, see Public Policy Studies. R. Lodato. Winter.

25100. Human Rights I: Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. (=HIST 29301/39301, HMRT 20100/30100, INRE 31600, ISHU 28700/38700, LAWS 41200, MAPH 40000, PHIL 21700/31600) For course description, see Human Rights. M. Green. Autumn.

26200. Environmental Economics. (=ECON 26500, ENST 26500, PPHA 32800) PQ: ECON 20100. For course description, see Economics. G. Tolley, S. Shaikh. Winter.

26201. Economics and Environmental Policy. (=ENST 21800, PBPL 21800) PQ: ECON 19800 or higher. For course description, see Environmental Studies. S. Shaikh. Spring.

26202. Economics of Urban Policies. (=ECON 26600/36500, GEOG 26600/36600, PBPL 24500) PQ: ECON 20100. For course description, see Economics. G. Tolley, D. Barker. Winter.

26600. Original Intent: Historical Roots of Modern Controversy. The Federal Constitution (1788) and the Bill of Rights (1791) contain many provisions that today stir historical debate over the original intent and understanding of these fundamental texts. Topics include limits on subversive or offensive speech, church/state relations, citizens' rights to own firearms, the rights of state governments, "natural" rights, legislative modification of private property rights, and the power of courts to invalidate statues. We read both contemporary writings from the early republic and later interpretive writings by historians, legal scholars, judges, and others. J. Hart. Winter.

26811. Slavery and the Atlantic World to 1848. (=HIST 29001) For course description, see History. J. Saville. Winter, 2005.

26912. Emancipants, Atlantic World after 1848. (=HIST 29002) For course description, see History. J. Saville. Spring, 2005.

27100. Human Rights II: History and Theory of Human Rights. (=HIST 29302/39302, HMRT 20200/30200, INRE 36400, ISHU 28800/38800, LAWS 41300) For course description, see Human Rights. M. Geyer. Winter, 2005.

28000. U.S. Labor History. (=ECON 18600, HIST 18600, HMRT28600) For course description, see History. A. Stanley. Spring. 2005.

28010. U.S. Legal History. (=HIST 19100) For course description, see History. A. Stanley. Summer, 2004.

28100. Law and Society. (=PLSC 22500) For course description, see Political Science. G. Rosenberg. Spring, 2005.

28711. Race and Racism in American History. (=HIST 27400) For course description, see History. T. Holt. Winter, 2005.

28900. Environmental Policy and Decision Making. (=ENST 24700, PBPL 22500) For course description, see Environmental Studies. R. Meyers. Winter.

29000. Sport, Society, and Science. This interdisciplinary course draws faculty from across the University to examine and to integrate important elements of the world of sport and competition, including sport and society; race and sport; legal, economic, and public policy frameworks; psychological and neurological aspects of competition; the physics of sports; and statistical measurements of performance. D. Hutchinson, A. Sanderson. Winter, 2005.

IV. Research and Reading

29400. Research Seminar. PQ: Consent of instructor. Class limited to fifteen students. This research seminar examines problems in modern American constitutional history. Topics are selected by students with the approval of the instructor. Prior topics include inherent presidential power, due process in prisons, sexual preference and equal protection, impeachment, and Congressional control of foreign affairs. D. Hutchinson. Autumn, 2004, 2005.