This Class will explore the role of narrative and story in the anatomy of a trial. We will study the extent to which strategies drawn from creative writing, including fiction and creative long-form non-fiction, achieve goals in legal persuasive writing and in oral advocacy in trials, and how those tools advance or hinder the search for objective truth. The course is co-taught by a former federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York and an accomplished novelist and screenwriter and will be supplemented by notable guest speakers from the film and non-fiction worlds as we uncover theory, techniques and craft applicable to legal advocates. Our goal is for students to learn how to use narrative, metaphor, and rhetorical tools in their own advocacy through analysis of texts and mediums that students don’t ordinarily encounter in traditional law school classes.
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
Columbia 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) ($1,000)
11257021
Annual Tuition and Mandatory Fees 2021-2022 ($) (Resident; Non-resident, where applicable)