Legal Studies: Constitutional Law: Writing Option

This course examines U.S. constitutional law, focusing on present-day law. Students will learn some constitutional law as well as how to think critically about it. Topics include constitutional balancings of intra-government powers, and delineations of individual rights, especially the rights of young people. Additional past topics have included how constitutional law protects creations of the mind, such as writings and discoveries; freedom of religion; equal protection; the right to be free from cruel and unusual treatment. Consistent with U.S. law-school pedagogy, students study laws as they apply to fact patterns, which are those specific “material facts” that create legal controversies. As we progress through the year, we will shift from general legal principles to real-time, real-world facts and controversies. In fact, the spring semester will require students to exercise their own judgment over a current legal case and controversy, such as by arguing a position in a case selected from the U.S. Supreme Court's current docket, or by contributing to a critical edition of an historic and ongoing legal controversy. Legal opinions and legislation are the course’s primary texts; a required textbook on constitutional law is supplemental. Students who take the writing option must complete substantial written assignments in addition to weekly homework and spoken presentations.