Prerequisite: By permission of instructor for JD and LLM students. Please send a one paragraph statement of interest to Carol Bateson (cbateson@law.harvard.edu) by August 15th. Please include in your statement of interest why you are interested in taking this seminar and one particular issue or aspect of the 14th amendment that you hope to learn more about in this class.

Exam Type: No Exam

This seminar will approach the study of the 14th Amendment as a founding, constitutional statement of America’s post-Civil War national identity. Engagement with the text, historical context, and jurisprudence of the Amendment’s key provisions, along with a study of critical 14th Amendment civil rights campaigns and litigation will center the course of study. Students will be invited to engage in a critical reexamination of our country’s core values and to identify strategies for confronting contemporary challenges to the stability and integrity of our democracy, drawing from the 14th Amendment. In addition to lectures and discussion, this course will feature guest speakers and films.

Note: This seminar will meet over six weeks in the fall term; 9/5, 9/6, 9/19, 9/20, 10/3, 10/4, 10/17, 10/18, 11/14, 11/15, 11/28, 11/29.