CRJU 2010, Universal Justice (Honors, 2 cr.) Dr. Dennis Murphy

Spring Semester, 2001 UH 218; 921-5680

Syllabus

 Catalogue Description: Critical juxtaposition of the justice ideal in actual practice in the U.S. and other countries. Development of universal justice construct rooted in the Rule of Law and applicable to terrorism, piracy, international criminal conspiracy, immigration, sanctuary, asylum, amnesty, and war crimes.

Honors Description: The overarching theme of the course will be Human Rights in the United Sates, contrasting the rights Americans hold dear with those in other countries. Students will examine post-WWII trends and documents in this area and compare these with recent events such as situations in Rwanda and the Balkans to assess the current state of human rights worldwide. Armed with this knowledge/perspective, students will then form a constitutional convention to rewrite the U.S. Bill of Rights to reflect a post-2000 rather than a post-1789 perspective.

Purpose of Course: The purpose of this course is to foster thinking about and ultimately under-standing of justice as a transcendent human construct.

Expected Learning Outcomes: The successful student in this course will understand and be able to explain the concept of justice and its universal character, the concept of human rights, and the roles of religion, law and geopolitics, as well as history, in the international reaction to certain events in the Twentieth Century.

Opportunities for Evaluation: Each student in this class will read carefully the text and any class handouts and be evaluated by a midterm examination (based on introductory lecture/discussions, handout materials and the text) which will count as 25% of the final course grade. Students are responsible for being present and taking the midterm on the date announced in advance in class; no-shows earn a zero. During the pre-midterm portion of the course, but after the initial material has been presented, each student will, at each Monday class, be prepared to present a brief synopsis of a current human rights issue in the news since the preceding Monday. Students will be called on at random to report on their news item and will turn in to the instructor a typed synopsis, to include a full citation of its source. Performance on these Monday presentations over the course of the Semester will constitute the second 25% of the final course grade. The remaining 50% of the grade will be based on quality of performance at the class constitutional convention. The newly framed Bill of Rights will be presented at the end of the semester as an appropriately crafted document, with the framers cogently arguing for its adoption.

Text: Amar, The Bill of Rights (Yale University Press, 1998)

Teaching Approach: This is a highly interactive course: minimal lecture but ongoing opportu-nity for students to ask questions, raise and lead discussion and work together on a major project.