Famous American court cases. Citizenship, emotion and social issues in legal proceedings

elective courses
general courses

Classroom

This course focuses on famous American court cases as material for cultural and social analysis. We will start with an introduction to rules of criminal procedure and legal order, and move on to analyzing specific cases and the public attention they garnered.

This course focuses on famous American court cases as material for cultural and social analysis. We will start with an introduction to rules of criminal procedure and legal order, and move on to analyzing specific cases and the public attention they garnered.

The debates surrounding famous court cases offer important insights into the complexities and contradictions in how America perceives race (O.J. Simpson, George Zimmerman), motherhood (Casey Anthony), murder and masculinity (Ted Bundy), abortion (Roe v. Wade), sexual violence (#MeToo) and other important problems of American social life. The course combines elements of cultural studies and anthropology of law.

1. Bourdieu, Pierre, and Wacquant, Loïc (1992). An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

2. Wacquant, Loïc (1999). "Penal 'common sense' comes to Europe – US exports zero tolerance" April 1999 Le Monde diplomatique.

3. Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish. The birth of the prison, Vintage Books, New York, 1995.

4. The Oxford Handbook of Law and Anthropology, ed. Marie-Claire Foblets, Mark Goodale, Maria Sapignoli, Olaf Zenker, Oxford University Press, 2022.

5. Mark Goodale: Anthropology and Law: A Critical Introduction, NYU Press, New York, 2017.

6. Lawyers in Your Living Room!: Law on Television, ed. Michael Asimow, American Bar Association, 2009.

7. The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of the #MeToo Movement, ed. Giti Chandra , Irma Erlingsdóttir, Routledge, 2020.

The reading list may be subject to changes.

1. Knowledge:

• student has basic knowledge of the most famous American court cases

• student has basic knowledge and vocabulary of the American criminal law, and rules of court proceedings

• is aware of the cultural significance of famous court cases

2. Skills:

• student can correctly apply critical tools for cultural analysis

• student can formulate critical arguments

• student can treat court cases and their public reception as material for cultural analysis

3. Social skills:

• student can problematize concepts from the area of justice, justice system, and various aspects of their social reception

• student can analyze various cultual aspects in discourses of justice in American culture

• student can analyze and differentiate various texts of culture, press materials, documents

1. Results of the final test (80%)

2. Active participation in class, homework assignements, entry tests (20%)

Grading: Oceny: 100-88/5; 87-73/4; 72-57/3; 56-0/2