COR 355 LAW, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
How has the Internet altered our understanding of the First Amendment rights to free speech, dissent, political organization, and security? What does the future hold for constitutional rights in a Globalizing World? Are Christmas and the Constitution compatible? Has the balance between the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial and the right to a free press shifted as a result of 24 hour news cycles? Is the law outmoded when considering modern medical issues like the sale of human organs or cloning? In this course we will draw insights from many disciplines, including Sociology, Political Science, Philosophy, Anthropology, Economics, Gender Studies and many others to critically examine contemporary issues in law and society. Concerned with the place of law in relation to other social institutions students will consider law in the context of broad social theories. Students will gain practice in applying theoretical social science concepts to understanding the interaction of law and society and to think critically about social justice. Through readings, Supreme Court decisions, articles by legal commentators and journalists, current news reports, film, TV, and other media, students will develop a keen awareness that law and legal thought pervade many aspects of modern life. While establishing a solid foundation of knowledge regarding the basic rules of law they will practice synthesizing their knowledge of law as a social phenomenon with the influences and effects of law on social systems. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third or fourth year of study.