Legal & Political Theory

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: 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…

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…

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…

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 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 Class participation will be expected and will be considered in grading. Students may write 5 short response papers or…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam The conventional understanding of the U.S. Constitution is that it is a “negative” constitution, which provides primarily for what…

Exam Type: In Class This course is an introduction to the element of equity in American law. The course will cover the sources of equitable…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam We consider legal truth from jury view: proof by live witness, proof by expert, and the relationship of truth…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Class participation will be expected and will be considered in grading. Students may write 5 short response papers or…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Any Day Take Home Students will write a paper (1500 words) and an exam essay (500 words), both due at the…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Political parties play an essential role in our democracy. But they sit in an uneasy position in the legal…

Prerequisites: None Exam: No Exam; Paper in lieu of examination A study of approaches in the philosophical traditions of the West and the East…

Prerequisites: None Exam: Takehome, not administered by HLS A study of approaches in the philosophical traditions of the West and the East to the…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No HLS-administered exam The course will focus on points of contact between legal scholarship on voting rights and election law and…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: No Exam The concept of a right is central to both legal and moral thought. In this reading group, we’ll try…

Prerequisites: None Exam: Takehome, not administered by HLS An exploration of the past and future agenda of progressives, whether self-described as liberals or as leftists.

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam The law aims to control, guide, or facilitate many aspects of human behavior. To achieve these goals legal policymakers…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: One-day takehome

In addition there will be a 1200-word paper due at the end of the workshop.
Ideal Discourse…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Ours is a time fraught with uncertainty about the stability and legitimacy of political and legal institutions and the…

Prerequisites: None Exam: Take Home, not administered by HLS The world’s economic and political order reels under mounting challenges: the global financial crisis, the austerity…

Prerequisites: None Exam: No Exam; Paper in lieu of examination The world’s economic and political order reels under mounting challenges: the global financial crisis, the…

Prerequisite: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule

Students will write a paper (1500 words) and an…

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course, although some familiarity with corporate law is assumed. Exam Type: No Exam. Grading will be based on…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Knowledge institutions are both public and private; some have clear constitutional protections, others do not. Knowledge institutions include a…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam Class participation will be expected and will be considered in grading. Students may write 5 short response papers.  The…

Prerequisites: None Exam: No Exam; Paper in lieu of examination An exploration of the past and future agenda of progressives, whether self-described as liberals or…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Take-home, not administered by HLS Democracy, inequality, and nationalism in America. The white working class and American politics. Class and race.

Prerequisite: By permission of instructor. Because the readings are in Japanese, students should have the equivalent of at least two years’ language instruction, but the…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam We consider legal truth from jury view: proof by live witness, proof by expert, and the relationship of truth…

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: No Exam Law enforcement in the United States plays a critical, often life-altering role in its citizenry’s life. More than 19,000…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Please refer to the Fall 2020 Tentative Exam Schedule This course will introduce and explore basic themes in jurisprudence. Topics…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam
Students will write response papers analyzing the reading materials. The professor will provide feedback and revision will…

Prerequisite: By Permission. Students interested in applying to join the Lab should submit a short (300 word maximum) statement of interest to Professor Hanson. The…

Prerequisites: Property Exam Type: No Exam Many first-year property courses begin with Pierson v. Post, 3 Cai. R. 175, 2 Am. Dec. 264 (N.Y. 1805).

Prerequisite: By Permission. Students interested in applying to join the Lab should submit a short (300 word maximum) statement of interest to Professor Hanson, if…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam This reading group will survey scholarship and law reform on some of the most pressing contemporary issues in elder…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: Midterm and final, administered through HKS This course will examine the interplay of geopolitics and human rights, with a focus on…

Prerequisites: This by-permission reading group is available only to current HLAB students. HLAB students who would like to enroll in this reading group should contact…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam

Instead there will be a 1200-word paper due at the end of the workshop.
Ideal Discourse…

Prerequisites: None Exam Type: No Exam If Alice assaults Billie, she has committed both a crime and a tort in the same instant. The state…