Legal & Political Theory

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam

There will be no paper or exam, and class will be graded credit/no credit. We will look…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam There will be no paper or exam, and class will be graded credit/no credit. We will look briefly at…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar examines the role of the law and legal activism in perpetuating and alleviating racial inequality in the…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will interrogate theories and practices of punishment in relation to the American criminal justice system—a system…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Abraham Lincoln is not only regarded (by most analysts) as very definitely one of our most important presidents. He…

Prerequisites: Students who have completed either of the following Spring 2021 reading groups, Evaluating Criminal Justice Reform or Legal Policies, Randomized Control Trials, and Ethics,…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam A few short years ago, it would have been unthinkable for candidates for prosecutorial positions to run on a…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will discuss the theory behind restorative justice and examine current experiments in the practice of restorative justice,…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will discuss the theory behind restorative justice and examine current experiments in the practice of restorative justice,…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will examine various facets of the recent jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court. We will consider a…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will examine various facets of the recent jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court. We will consider a…

Prerequisites: None Exam: No Exam Can professional success be achieved without “playing politics” or “behaving politically”? Can behaving ethically, with integrity & principle, be a…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam
Students will be expected to complete two short papers in response to course readings, and a longer paper…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam
Students will be expected to complete two short papers in response to course readings, and a longer paper…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Explores controversies about the use of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, environmental regulation,…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam
Student performance will be assessed on the basis of class participation (10%) and a paper submitted at the…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam; Paper in lieu of examination This seminar addresses central themes of legal and social theory. It takes as…

Prerequisites: Constitutional Law: Separation of Powers, Federalism, and Fourteenth Amendment Exam Type: No Exam This course will explore the modern exercise of Presidential power in…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Spring 2021 Exam Schedule This course will examine how laws impede or increase access to sexual…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Last Class Take-Home This course explores law’s role in global affairs. We will examine the history of ideas, legal doctrines, institutional…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This workshop is devoted to reading and discussing new scholarly work on law and political economy. Outside speakers and…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Any Day Take-home Jurisprudence is the silent and controlling partner in every judge’s and every lawyer’s reasoning about law. A judge,…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam
Evaluation is a final take home essay.
Around the world, questions of “political economy” are back on the agenda,…

Prerequisites: No special background is required. Cross-registrants are welcome. Anyone seeking information about this course should feel free to contact Professor Scott Brewer at sbrewer@law.harvard.edu.

Prerequisites: (A) One prior course on American constitutional law, and (B) one prior course on constitutional law, federal courts, administrative law, jurisprudence, or legislation /…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam What is required for you to be treated as an individual by the law? When should we insist that…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: Any-day take-home
Paper option available
What is power? And what principles, if any, constrain it’s exercise? This multidisciplinary course considers…

Prerequisite: This reading group is open to any student who has completed the Negotiation Workshop. Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will explore situations…

Prerequisites: LLM students must have taken (1) Either Civil Procedure or Federal Courts, or equivalent coursework; AND (2) one of the following: Contracts, Torts, or…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule This course explores key concepts and doctrines in US constitutional law,…

Prerequisite: This is a JD 1L only offering. Exam Type: Please refer to the Spring 2021 Exam Schedule This course offers a rigorous introduction…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will provide students with exposure to ongoing research in the economic analysis of law. At most of…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This workshop is devoted to learning about, discussing, and critically evaluating new scholarly work on law and politics. A…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule This course will explore past and present debates about the role…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will examine originalism in constitutional interpretation, both in theory and in practice. The readings will consist…

Prerequisites: Constitutional Law: Separation of Powers, Federalism, and Fourteenth Amendment or Constitutional Law: First Amendment Exam Type: No Exam The contemporary debate over the proper…

Prerequisites: Civil Procedure or faculty permission to waive the prerequisite is required. Exam Type: Any Day Take-home This course will study legal doctrines, litigation strategies…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will consider one of the newest intellectual currents within American Legal Theory – Critical Race Theory.

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will explore situations and applications that challenge core principles in negotiation, mediation, and dispute systems design…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam In this seminar we will examine the ways in which the rhetorical and communications principles of framing and narrative…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule Students will write response papers analyzing the reading materials or will…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will examine key readings and projects surrounding the ethics and governance of the opaque complex adaptive…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will consider one of the newest intellectual currents within American Legal Theory – Critical Race Theory.

Prerequisite: Legislation & Regulation is a prerequisite for JD students. LLM or SJD students should have had a similar class or work experience in their…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam In this reading group on Feminist Utopias, we explore literature, essays and history of women’s law reform movements through…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam This seminar will provide students with exposure to ongoing research in the economic analysis of law. At most of…

Why do McDonald’s workers in Denmark earn more than twice as much as do McDonald’s workers in the United States, while the Heritage Foundation ranks…