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________________________________________ From: Witt, John [john.witt@Yale.edu] Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 5:24 PM To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list; trussell@law.du.edu Subject: Re: New 20th century course Dear Tom: Two of the chapters in my recent book may be of use to you. I wrote the book in part to provide myself (and willing others!) with readings for teaching American legal history. The second half of the book -- two long chapters -- is on the 20th century. One chapter is on the rise of the civil liberties idea. The second is on the limits of the New Deal administrative state and the resurgence of the common law in the form of tort litigation in the post-WW2 period. One project of the book was to capture important legal-historical questions in stories and in characters that would grab the attention of readers such as students. To shamelessly plug myself, I'd say that in my experience (and I think in the experience of others who have used the book in teaching) the chapters do a petty good job of accomplishing that goal. This is especially useful in the New Deal materials, which (as you say) can be become an incomprehensible alphabet soup. The book is PATRIOTS AND COSMOPOLITANS: Hidden Histories of American Law (Harvard, 2007). The chapters are "Internationalists in the Nation State: Crystal Eastman and the Puzzle of American Civil Liberties," and "The King and the Dean: Melvin Belli, Roscoe Pound, and the Common Law Nation." Hope this is of some use. And please forgive the shameless self-promotion! John On 12/7/09 3:55 PM, "Spivack, Carla" <CSpivack@OKCU.EDU> wrote: > Carla Spivack, J.D., Ph.D. > Associate Professor of Law > Oklahoma City University School of Law > ph: (405) 208-5370 > > -----Original Message----- > From: Schiller, Reuel E. [mailto:schiller@uchastings.edu] > Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 2:42 PM > To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list > Subject: RE: New 20th century course > > I have found McCraw's Prophets of Regulation to be very useful for > teaching about the rise of the administrative state, an obvious theme > for a twentieth-century American Legal History course. > > Reuel Schiller > > > -----Original Message----- > From: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list > [mailto:H-LAW@H-NET.MSU.EDU] On Behalf Of Spivack, Carla > Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 6:57 AM > To: H-LAW@H-NET.MSU.EDU > Subject: New 20th century course > > ________________________________________ > From: Russell, Thomas [trussell@law.du.edu] > Sent: Monday, December 07, 2009 12:29 AM > To: H-Net and ASLH Legal History Discussion list > Subject: New 20th century course > > Mates: > > I'm teaching a new version of my American Legal History course in the > spring semester. I'd like to solicit your suggestions as to what topics > I should cover as well as regarding the topics that I want to cover. > > For nearly 20 years, I have taught a swell course in the > Hurst/Friedman/Gordon/McEvoy mode. I start in the marvelous 17th > century and usually make it as far as the New Deal. The course is very > much a social and economic history based solely on primary sources. I > spend very little time talking about constitutional law. Indeed, I > don't have the students read all that many cases, either. > > If you would like, see http://www.houseofrussell.com/legalhistory/alh/ > for the course pages. > > Next semester, I am going to teach a course that's about the 20th > century (now that it's safely in the past). I'm also going to be more > than a bit presentist with regard to my choice of topics. (I'm acutely > aware of the issues this presents.) > > I'm looking for advice regarding course materials including documents > but also movies, audio, art, etc. I would like to have some fun. > > Here are some examples of what I have in mind. > > Health Care: I have been personally involved in working on legislative > reform related to health care. I'd like to piece together in my own > mind the 20th century efforts related to health care reform. (see the > recent little piece in the New Yorker, for example.) I may spend four > class lectures talking about the early 20th century, the New Deal/WW II > efforts, the later expansion of the industry, and along the way play the > record of Ronald Reagan speaks against socialized medicine. > > New Deal: Given the rather obvious links between what President Obama > has done (or tried do with the economy), I'd like to spend 3-4 lectures > talking about the New Deal in order to sort out in my own brain the > alphabet soup of agencies and also in order to catch up on the > literature. > > Marriage/Divorce/Gay Marriage. I'd like to talk about the expansion of > divorce to the Family Law Act (CA) and beyond plus I want to explore for > myself how the various pieces of Gay Marriage issues fit together. > Along the way, I'd like to talk about Stonewall, because I find that my > students know nothing about the Stonewall riots. Maybe I will show them > a little of the movie Milk, too. > > Torts: I have a big interest in Torts because I teach and practice in > the area. > > Drugs: Colorado, like other states, has a big boom in medical > marijuana. I think I will have one lecture on 20th century drug policy. > > Computers: Has anyone made sense of the 20th century legal history of > computers yet? > > As you can see, my interests are more than a bit amorphous. > > If you have ideas for me that you would like to share or if you have > ideas of parts of your own courses or lectures that you think I ought to > explore, please let me know. We're between semesters, and I'd be > grateful if you would help me update my own thinking on this. > > Cheers, > > Tom Russell > Professor > University of Denver Sturm College of Law > trussell@law.du.edu > 303-856-7531 > houseofrussell.com -- John Fabian Witt Professor of Law and History Yale Law School P.0. Box 208215 / 127 Wall Street New Haven, CT 06520 203-432-4944 john.witt@yale.edu
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