CHIST 3200 Human Rights, Social Justice, and the Constitution in America
The meaning and scope of rights conferred under the American Constitution have been widely debated over the course of American History. The history of these debates will be studied in founding documents, landmark Supreme Court decisions and readings in legal and ethical theory. The Constitution will be viewed as a public text whose meaning has been subject to conflicting interpretations and interpretive philosophies. Topics will include freedom of expression, religious freedom, the right to bear arms, the right to life, race and gender, the rights of criminal suspects, Constitutional rights in wartime, and shifting currents of judicial opinion on the topics being examined.
Prerequisite
CLITR 1100, OR one 1000- or 2000-level CHIST or CHUMS course