Race and the Law
SLN #: 93114Course Prefix: LAW-691
Course Section: 023
Credit Hours: 2
Instructor(s): Overton
Course Books: View List of Books
Course Description:
This course will examine issues of race within American law through a historical and modern context. We will discuss how race and ethnicity affect legislatures, court rooms and communities. We will also examine the use of the law both to perpetuate and to reduce and eliminate racial injustice in the United States from the formulation of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution, through slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, desegregation, the war and drugs, and up through the present day. We will explore the biases and prejudices shared by judges, juries, parties, clients and lawyers, as well as our own biases and how those shape the way we view the law. The course will conclude with group and individual presentations on issues of race and the law and require a 15-page (double-spaced) paper on a relevant topic. There will be no final exam.
Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 2
Grading Option: Letter Grade Only
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: Yes
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Limited Enrollment Number: 14
Final Exam Given: No
Paper Or In-Class Presentation: Yes, see course description
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies
* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.