This course is based on the proposition that not all wisdom about the law and justice is in the U.S. Reports. Questions we may ask: How does literature use law, indeed depend on law, as a source of structure and theme? How does literature view law and legal institutions? How does literature explore people, from all circumstances, who are caught up with the law and legal procedures? Can literature provide "poetic justice" when those procedures fail? What can literature and literary imagination bring to performance of legal tasks, including "telling stories" about cases? What different (or similar) interpretative rules do lawyers and literary critics employ in construing a text? How are human passions and the human condition differently described and treated? , - We will read the following works in the order listed plus some materials we will distribute. We suggest you buy them now. , - ANTIGONE (Sophocles)(Ruby Blundell trans. recommended), MERCHANT OF VENICE (Shakespeare), GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (Moises Kaufman) and Gross Indecency (excerpts), IN THE PENAL COLONY (Kafka), IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (James Baldwin), THE READER (Bernard Schlink), THE ISLAND (Athol Fugard),, HOME FIRE (Kamila Shamsie) and THE CUTTING SEASON (Attica Locke). IN THE PENAL COLONY may be available free on line. , - These works will be grouped in 9 assignments out of 13 classes, so in some weeks there will be no additional reading. Students are required to write SEVEN 3-page papers (of 900-1000 words each), out of the 9 assignments, on any aspect of the work they choose. There are no prompts. Papers are due Monday noon before the Tuesday class for which the work first appears on the syllabus. To ensure we have time to read the papers before class, we ask that you observe this deadline. We don't grade the papers but we use them to organize class discussion. Active class participation and regular attendance is REQUIRED. A detailed syllabus will be sent to registered students before the first class. You MUST be present at the first class to remain in it or gain admission. Laptops may be used in class ONLY to access your paper or the work under discussion. Phones must be turned off and hidden.
This information has been collected for the Post-Discipline Online Syllabus Database. The database explores the use of literature by schools of professional education in North America. It forms part of a larger project titled Post-Discipline: Literature, Professionalism, and the Crisis of the Humanities, led by Dr Merve Emre with the assistance of Dr Hayley G. Toth. You can find more information about the project at https://postdiscipline.english.ox.ac.uk/. Data was collected and accurate in 2021/22.
History
Subject Area
Law
Geographic Region
Middle Atlantic
University or College
New York University
Funding Status
Private
Endowment (according to NACUBO's U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change* in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20) ($1,000)
4323652
Annual Tuition and Mandatory Fees 2021-2022 ($) (Resident; Non-resident, where applicable)
70400
Course Title
Law and Literature Seminar
Terminal Degree of Instructor(s)
PhD, JD
Position of Instructor(s)
Adjunct Professor of Law, Professor of Law
Academic Year(s) Active
Since 2001. The course may be longer running, but the archive does not contain catalogs before 2001.
Primary Works on Reading List
Sophocles, Antigone; William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice; Moises Kaufman, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde; Franz Kafka, In the Penal Colony; James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk; Bernard Schlink, The Reader; Athol Fugard, The Island; Kamila Shamsie, Homefire; and Attica Locke, The Cutting Season.