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Program Overview

The Reconstruction Amendments (the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments) are cornerstones to what has been described as our nation’s “Second Founding.” Although students may be familiar with discrete clauses of these amendments from a general constitutional law or federal courts class, this seminar offers a chance to study the Reconstruction Amendments in more detail, and as a unit.

Course Description

We will become acquainted with the key figures, events, and primary documents that surround the drafting, ratification, interpretation, and enforcement of these Amendments. We will consult the work of luminaries such as Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and John Bingham, as well as contemporary sources like newspaper articles, congressional reports, and the Proceedings of the Black National and State Conventions. We will also examine select secondary works by legal scholars and historians that shed light on these amendments both descriptively and theoretically.

Course Details

• Course Number: 565
• Course Credits: 2-3
• Evaluation Method:
  • Reflective Writing
  • Reaction Papers
  • Class participation
• Instructor: Darrell A. H. Miller
• Course Type: Seminar
• Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law
• Degree Requirements:
  • JD SRWP, option
  • JD elective
  • IntlLLM writing, option
  • PIPS elective
• Course Areas of Practice: Constitutional Law and Civil Rights

Enrollment and Evaluation

Students may enroll in the course for 2 or 3 credits. Evaluation for the 2 credit course will be short reflective papers and class participation. Evaluation for the 3 credit course will be short reflective papers, class participation, and a research paper suitable to satisfy the substantial writing requirement.

Additional Information

A syllabus for the course is available: 565-01-Spring2024-syllabus.pdf. Please note that this information is for planning purposes only, and should not be relied upon for the schedule for a given semester. Faculty leaves and sabbaticals, as well as other curriculum considerations, will sometimes affect when a course may be offered.