JJUB55133U How Did We Get to Trump? An Overview of Twentieth-Century American Law - NOTE: THE COURSE IS CANCELLED IN THE AUTUMN SEMESTER 2018

The current political situation in the United States has repercussions for the entire world - not least, upon the legal paradigms through which the US government interacts with the world and its own citizens. This course explores current, hot-button legal issues in the United States through 5 different cultural texts. Students will examine major issues in US cultural history during the 20th century through the lens of modern literature and then explore how the United States Supreme Court has grappled with these issues in some of the most important legal cases over the course of the century.
The use of literature helps focus an analysis of the relevant historical and cultural issues that come into play when the Supreme Court tries to resolve a legal conflict. This provides insight not only into how the current legal and political situation in the US came about but how judges more generally apply legal reasoning in practical situations.Students will learn the basic outline of 20th-century American cultural and legal history. They will learn basic methods in the interpretation of literary and cultural texts as a way of examining social and historical contexts.
They will also learn basic concepts of common law reasoning and legal argumentation in the English/American legal system. In addition to the theoretical background, the course provides a ‘hands-on’ approach for examining how law, culture, and history interact in the way lawyers and judges analyse legal issues and craft legal opinions. Thus, the course provides specific knowledge about legal reasoning in the American context that can be applied to legal reasoning in any social or cultural context. The course is based on methods pioneered in the ‘law and literature’ movement over the past thirty years. A basic knowledge of English is required.