Law & Literature
SLN #: 15320Course Prefix: LAW-791
Course Section: 019
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Murphy
Course Books: View List of Books
Course Description:
LAW AND LITERATURE: This course will concentrate on exploring two works of literature with a primary emphasis on the issues of punishment, responsibility, forgiveness, and mercy. The course will begin with a discussion of Ronald Dworkin’s essay “How Law is Like Literature” (supplied on the course blackboard)and will then move into a discussion of Herman Melville’s BILLY BUDD, SAILOR. This novella was left unfinished at Melville’s death, and many different versions have been published. For this course, it is important that the student have an edition (ordered for the course) that uses the reading text prepared by Hayford and Sealts. After Melville, we will spend several weeks-- and (depending on the extent of class discussion) perhaps the remainder of the course--on Dostoevsky's novel CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. It is vital that the student use only the Everyman's Library translation of this novel (ordered for this course) by Pevear and Volokhonsky since many other translations are terrible and even the OK ones will have different pagination from the Everyman edition--something that will make references made in class hard to find. (In an earlier posting I said I had ordered the Oxford University Press translation because I had mistakenly thought that the Everyman translation was out of print.) NOTE WELL: THE INSTRUCTOR DOES NOT ALLOW LAPTOP COMPUTERS TO BE USED OR EVEN OPENED DURING CLASS.
Students wishing to earn 3 credits will be allowed to
enroll in a one credit independent study to write a
paper in addition to the take home exam.
Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 2
Grading Option: Numeric Grade or Letter Grade Only
Written Assignment: Only for students seeking 3 credits
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: No
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Prerequisite: None
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Limited Enrollment Number: 15
Final Exam Given: Yes
Final Exam Type: Take-Home
Mid Term Or Other Exam: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: No
Participation Points: Useful student participation used to decide borderline cases
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
Additional Attendance Policy: None
* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.