Law and Popular Culture, Santa Clara University

This seminar focuses on the interface between two important subjects: law and popular culture. Before class, students see a series of films or television shows relating to law, lawyers, and the legal system. There is also a weekly homework assignment based on materials in the assigned text and the assigned film or TV show. Class sessions discuss the pop culture treatment of subjects such as the adversary system, good and bad lawyers, female and gay lawyers, the work life of lawyers, legal education, ethical issues, the jury system, and criminal and civil justice. The pop culture products media raise many issues of legal ethics and professional responsibility and these are extensively covered in the book and in class. The discussions will draw on film theory and film-making technique to deepen understanding of the interrelationship between law and popular culture. The discussions illuminate the ways in which pop culture products both reflect and change social views about law and lawyers. The instructor has published a textbook that reflects on the practice of teaching Law and Popular Culture; see Michael Asimov and Shannon Mader, Law and Popular Culture; A Course Book [3rd Edition] (Vandeplas Press, 2020). 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.