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About our Spring 2024 courses

Courses in constitutional studies come from across the university disciplines. If you’d like to learn more about individual courses or request advising on which classes to take, please book an appointment with Associate Director Dr. Deborah O'Malley (domalle2@nd.edu) here.

Please note that seats listed under a "CNST" course number are reserved for students who have officially declared the Constitutional Studies minor. However, those courses also have a primary or parent department course number (e.g., POLS or HIST), which may or may not be open to anyone. Any course on our list is eligible for minor credit, no matter which seat a student is enrolled in (a CNST seat or otherwise). Typically, AP course credits are applied only to University requirements and electives, not toward majors or minors.

THE GATEWAY COURSE WILL BE OFFERED SPRING 2024.

CLICK THE COURSE TO SEE DESCRIPTION

*updated 11.7.23

Black Political Thought
- Instructor: Forjwuor, Bernard
- Primary Number: AFST 30682
- CNST Number: CNST 30644
- Time: MW 9:30am-10:45am
HPVL, WKSP
Black Political Thought
- Instructor: Forjwuor, Bernard
- Primary Number: AFST 30682
- CNST Number: CNST 30644
- Time: MW 9:30am-10:45am
This course will focus on the writings of Black political thinkers in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. Through critical examination of the conditions against, and contexts within, which the political theories of these thinkers are situated, this course hopes to arrive at some understanding of the principles, goals and strategies developed to contest and redefine notions/concepts of citizenship (vis-a-vis the imperatives of race/racism and the global colonial formations), humanity, justice, equality, development, democracy, and freedom.
History of American Capitalism
- Instructor: Garibaldi, Korey
- Primary Number: AMST 30108
- CNST Number: CNST 30414
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
History of American Capitalism
- Instructor: Garibaldi, Korey
- Primary Number: AMST 30108
- CNST Number: CNST 30414
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
This course offers a broad thematic overview of the history of capitalism from the early sixteenth century up to the late 1980s. As a discussion-based seminar, we will devote most of our conversations to discovering, analyzing and reflecting on the transformation of the U.S. from a newly-independent British colony, to the most influential economic power in the world. Topics and themes we will consider include: the rise of early modern transnational capitalism, European imperialism and trade, and indigenous dispossession after 1492; science and technological transformations; social and economic thought; slavery and servitude, broadly construed; and characteristics of prosperity, wealth, and economic flux. Our readings and viewings will be a mix of scholarly and primary sources, including an abundance of canonical literary and artistic material, such as novels, visual art, and film excerpts (e.g. Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), Aaron Douglas's Building More Stately Mansions (1944), and Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence (1920)). Over the course of the semester, students will draw upon this eclectic combination of sources to synthesize the dominant historical dimensions of capitalism in and beyond the U.S. via four short essays (4 - 5 pages, double-spaced-between 1,100 and 1,400 words), and a final paper (10 - 12 pages, double-spaced) based on cumulative texts.
The Ideas that Made America
- Instructor: Cajka, Peter
- Primary Number: AMST 30177
- CNST Number: CNST 30035
- Time: TTh 3:30pm-4:45pm
HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
The Ideas that Made America
- Instructor: Cajka, Peter
- Primary Number: AMST 30177
- CNST Number: CNST 30035
- Time: TTh 3:30pm-4:45pm
America, at its core, is an idea. The lands that became America have been imagined and in certain ways and constantly reimagined. The history of the ideas that made America is less a lesson in philosophy and more about a series of clashes between contending visions: Democracy vs. Republicanism; Free vs. Slave; Christian vs. Secular; Individual vs. Society; and Universal vs. Particular. This course traces a long arc from the Puritans to the Culture Wars to understand the ideas Americans draw upon to comprehend the world and act in it.Lectures and discussions will consider the notions of equality, democracy, pluralism, religious freedom, and the tensions between contending visions for America. Readings for this course will include autobiographies, speeches, sermons, canonical texts, lyrics, novels, newspaper articles, and poetry.
Economic Sins
- Instructor: Otteson, James R.
- Primary Number: BES 43100
- CNST Number: CNST 30436
- Time: MW 9:30am-10:45am
BAHP
Economic Sins
- Instructor: Otteson, James R.
- Primary Number: BES 43100
- CNST Number: CNST 30436
- Time: MW 9:30am-10:45am
This course is a discussion-based seminar investigating a series of “economic sins.” That is, we will explore differing perspectives on a series of controversies in economics and business, such as just or fair wages, collective action problems, exploitation, asymmetry in knowledge and leverage, inequality, sweatshops, sustainability, and cronyism. How does business in a market economy give rise to such problems? How does it, or can it, address them? What is the proper role of government with respect to such issues? Readings will draw from classical and contemporary sources in economics, philosophy, theology, political science, and business ethics, and will represent a range of perspectives. This course is part of the Business and the Common Good minor.
Business and Politics in America
- Instructor: Iffland, Craig
- Primary Number: BES 43200
- CNST Number: CNST 30437
- Time: T 3:30pm-6pm
BAHP
Business and Politics in America
- Instructor: Iffland, Craig
- Primary Number: BES 43200
- CNST Number: CNST 30437
- Time: T 3:30pm-6pm
In this course, we examine the sometimes productive, sometime corrosive, relationship between business and politics in America. To do so, we will focus on the ways in which the relationship between business and politics in America has facilitated the rise of extractive forms of exchange and rent-seeking practices at the expense of genuine value creation brought about by voluntary cooperation in productive activities. Throughout the course, then, we will pay close attention to debates—philosophical, theological, political—about the determinants of value in a market economy, including the relative voluntariness of its participants, the definition of “rents” as a kind of unproductive, and so extractive, form of economic activity, and the continuing appeal—for political and business leaders alike—of exercising managerial control over the masses, i.e., their fellow citizens. To illustrate the significance of these debates, and the social implications of the answers provided by their participants, we will investigate how America’s political class has been utilized as an instrument of extraction and rent-seeking by market actors throughout our nation’s history, covering the post-war Gilded Age, the Depression and New Deal, the deindustrialization and deunionization of the American economy in the 1970s, and the globalization of trade in the 1990s. Ultimately, students will be asked to reflect on the moral significance of the ends for which political and economic power has been deployed in an era marked by the rise of big business, the emergence of mass politics, and the expansion of public power to control its citizens.
History of Rome II
- Instructor: Hernandez, David
- Primary Number: CLAS 20203
- CNST Number: CNST 20615
- Time: TTh 11:00am-12:15pm
HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
History of Rome II
- Instructor: Hernandez, David
- Primary Number: CLAS 20203
- CNST Number: CNST 20615
- Time: TTh 11:00am-12:15pm
This course examines the history of the Roman Empire, from the establishment of a veiled monarchy under Augustus to the Christianization of the empire following the reign of Constantine (ca. 1st century B.C. to 5th century A.D). Throughout the course, we will analyze and interpret ancient textual and archaeological evidence, from both Italy and the provinces, to assess the multi-faceted institutions and cultures of the Roman people. This body of material includes the writings of emperors (Augustus, Marcus Aurelius) and ancient historians (Tacitus, Suetonius, Ammianus Marcellinus), as well as the personal letters of Pliny to the emperor Trajan. Major themes discussed in the course include the nature of despotism, dynasties and the problem of succession; imperial governance of the Mediterranean (central, provincial, and local); cultural diversity and acculturation (so-called "Romanization"); religions and the imperial cult (worship of the Roman emperor); citizenship; urbanism, politics, and the economy; mortality and ecology; and the discrepant identities of women, children, slaves, freedmen, and freeborn under the imperial system of Rome.
The American Revolution
- Instructor: Carter, Katlyn
- Primary Number: HIST 20602
- CNST Number: CNST 30012
- Time: MW 12:50pm-1:40pm
HIST - old Core History WKHI - new Core History
The American Revolution
- Instructor: Carter, Katlyn
- Primary Number: HIST 20602
- CNST Number: CNST 30012
- Time: MW 12:50pm-1:40pm
When speaking of the American Revolution, many writers reach for a comment made by John Adams in 1818 that, "[T]he Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. . ." Whether this assertion is true historically or not, it still does not adequately describe what that revolution was. The American Revolution obviously had its political elements, primarily the formation of the United States. To reach its political goals, military means were necessary. Without a successful War for Independence, there would have been no revolution. To leave matters there, however, would be insufficient. A fuller understanding of the revolution would need to address how it affected the whole spectrum of American life. It would consider the revolution as a social movement that challenged the political and social hierarchies of the day. It would also ask how the revolution affected those who were not white males, especially women, slaves, and Native Americans. Without considering the possible negative implications of the revolution, any telling would be incomplete. This class will take up these challenges and attempt to make a full-orbed presentation of the events surrounding the American Revolution. It will introduce students both to elites and to those whom the popular narrative glosses over. It will attempt to count the losses, as well as the gains, which flowed from the move to independence from Britain. Finally, it will attempt to describe the many changes through this period, which resulted, not only in a new political nation, but in a new society and culture--changes that in varying degrees are still with us today and of which contemporary Americans are the inheritors.
From Humors to Hysteria
- Instructor: Jarvis, Katie
- Primary Number: HIST 30456
- CNST Number: CNST 30242
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
From Humors to Hysteria
- Instructor: Jarvis, Katie
- Primary Number: HIST 30456
- CNST Number: CNST 30242
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
Between the early rumblings of the Reformations and the last cannon shot of World War I, Europeans profoundly changed how they conceptualized bodies as experience and metaphors. During these four centuries, Europeans grounded the ways in which they interacted with each other and the world in bodily imaginings. On an individual level, the living, human body provided a means of accessing and understanding the material or spiritual world. On a collective scale, the physical body, its adornments, and its gestures provided markers that Europeans used to fracture society along axes of gender, sexuality, class, race, mental aptitude, and even sacrality. Drawing in part from their myriad imaginings of the human body, Europeans constructed metaphorical political bodies. The body politic assumed diverse forms spanning from divine right monarchs to revolutionary republics to modern nation states. Our course will lay bare the human body as culturally constructed, while fleshing out how Europeans? evolving visions affected political imaginings.
U.S. Civil War Era, 1848-1877
- Instructor: Przybyszewski, Linda
- Primary Number: HIST 30604
- CNST Number: CNST 30003
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
U.S. Civil War Era, 1848-1877
- Instructor: Przybyszewski, Linda
- Primary Number: HIST 30604
- CNST Number: CNST 30003
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
This course begins in 1848 and examines the coming of the Civil War, the experience of the war itself, and the period of Reconstruction up to 1877. The emphasis will be on the political, social, cultural, and legal events and decisions that were made by governmental and civilian participants, by men and women, by whites and blacks. Why were so many willing to go to war? What did they believe each side was fighting for? The sectional conflict touched every aspect of American life. In order to understand it fully, we will read not only political speeches, military reports, and judicial decisions, but also poetry, fiction, and private letters. We will examine the beliefs and values of veterans and nurses, of abolitionists and slave owners, of politicians and voters. We will also consider the way historians evaluate the war and the way in which the public remembers it.
Catholics & US Public Life
- Instructor: Miscamble, Fr. Bill
- Primary Number: HIST 33757
- CNST Number: CNST 30016
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
HCT5 - HIST Cat 5: US (HCT5) HIST - old Core History (HIST) WKHI - new Core History (WKHI)
Catholics & US Public Life
- Instructor: Miscamble, Fr. Bill
- Primary Number: HIST 33757
- CNST Number: CNST 30016
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
This course offers an overview of the interaction between Catholics and public life in America during the half century following the Second Vatican Council and the election of a Catholic as President in 1960. The course should permit students to gain a greater familiarity with the engagement and response of various Catholic individuals and groups on some major political and social-cultural issues. It will explore the extent of Catholic influence in American politics and society during the period and will explore the role of religion in shaping (or not shaping) the outlooks of a number of significant Catholic political figures beginning with JFK, RFK, and Eugene McCarthy, moving to Mario Cuomo and Daniel Patrick Moynihan down to contemporary figures. The course offers each student the opportunity to research and write a major paper on a topic of his or her choosing in this area.
Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, & the Civil War
- Instructor: Lundberg, Jake
- Primary Number: HIST 35671
- CNST Number: CNST 30032
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
HBNA, HTWS, WKHI
Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, & the Civil War
- Instructor: Lundberg, Jake
- Primary Number: HIST 35671
- CNST Number: CNST 30032
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
This course asks how we should narrate and understand the great ordeal of Civil War and emancipation. Reading both primary and secondary sources, it considers the Civil War era and life of Abraham Lincoln in light of the rise of abolition and antislavery politics; attitudes toward race, slavery, and labor; the political and social meanings of war and emancipation; the political and social challenge of reconstructing the nation amidst the tangled legacies of racial slavery and a destructive war.
Plato's Republic
- Instructor: Gamarra Jordan, Gonzalo
- Primary Number: PHIL 20410
- CNST Number: X
Plato's Republic
- Instructor: Gamarra Jordan, Gonzalo
- Primary Number: PHIL 20410
- CNST Number: X
An historically and philosophically informed close reading of one of the most important texts in the history of philosophy, Plato's Republic.
Philosophy of Law
- Instructor: Warfield, Ted; Tebbit, Mark
- Primary Number: PHIL 22408
- CNST Number: X
- Time: MWF 10:30am-11:20am
Philosophy of Law
- Instructor: Warfield, Ted; Tebbit, Mark
- Primary Number: PHIL 22408
- CNST Number: X
- Time: MWF 10:30am-11:20am
This course explores theoretical and practical issues arising in law. Topics will include some of the following: laws regulating speech; drug laws, the limits of the criminal sanction, and the debate about over-criminalization; self-defense; the foundations of criminal procedure. In class mid-term and short paper for each of the 3 class units. Regular attendance and participation in required Friday class discussion section.
American Political Thought
- Instructor: Weithman, Paul
- Primary Number: PHIL 30409
- CNST Number: X
- Time: MWF 2:00pm-2:50pm
American Political Thought
- Instructor: Weithman, Paul
- Primary Number: PHIL 30409
- CNST Number: X
- Time: MWF 2:00pm-2:50pm
Coming to grips with American political thought is at once an historical and a philosophical task. Students in this course will take on that task under the guidance of one faculty member from the Department of History and one from the Department of Philosophy. The guiding questions of the course are: How have ideas about freedom, equality and the social contract played out in the history of American political thought? When have we realized those ideas and when have we failed? Do those ideas provide us adequate guidance? The exploration of American political thought will be divided into six periods: The Founding, the Civil War era, the late 19th-century, the New Deal to the 1960s, the 1960s to the 1990s, and the 1990s to the present. The course has no prerequisites, though students wishing to count it toward the Philosophy requirement must previously have taken "Introduction to Philosophy."
Polit. & Const. Theory
- Instructor: Planinc, Emma
- Primary Number: PLS 30302
- CNST Number: X
- Time: TTh 9:30 am OR 11 am
ALSS, NSMA
Polit. & Const. Theory
- Instructor: Planinc, Emma
- Primary Number: PLS 30302
- CNST Number: X
- Time: TTh 9:30 am OR 11 am
An approach to understanding the fundamental problems of political community and the nature of various solutions, especially that of democracy. Readings will include, but are not limited to, Aristotle's Politics, Locke's Second Treatise, and selections from The Federalist Papers and American founding documents. Restricted to PLS majors.
World Politics: Introduction to Comparative Politics
- Instructor: Gould, Andy
- Primary Number: POLS 10400/POLS 20400
- CNST Number: CNST 20200
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
SOSC - old Core Social Science (SOSC) WKSS - new Core Social Science (WKSS)
World Politics: Introduction to Comparative Politics
- Instructor: Gould, Andy
- Primary Number: POLS 10400/POLS 20400
- CNST Number: CNST 20200
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
This course will focus on the relationship between democratic institutions, peace, and economic/human development. While drawing on lessons from North America and Europe, we will focus largely on countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. During the semester, we will discuss and debate the merits of various explanations or hypotheses that political scientists have proposed to answer the following questions: Why are some countries more "developed" and democratic than others? Is development necessary for democracy or democracy necessary for development? What is the relationship between culture, development, and democracy? How do different types of political institutions affect the prospects for development and democracy? Should/how should U.S. and other established democracies promote democratization? By the end of the course, the objectives are that students (1) learn the most important theories intended to explain why some countries are more democratic and "developed" than others, (2) understand the complexity of any relationship between democracy and development, and (3) grow in the ability to think about and intelligently assess the strengths and weaknesses of strategies intended to promote democracy and development.
Political Theory
- Instructor: Deneen, Patrick
- Primary Number: POLS 10600/POLS 20600
- CNST Number: CNST 20602
- Time: MW 3:30pm-4:45pm
PHI2 - old Core 2nd Philosophy (PHI2) WKSP - new Core 2nd Philosophy (WKSP)
Political Theory
- Instructor: Deneen, Patrick
- Primary Number: POLS 10600/POLS 20600
- CNST Number: CNST 20602
- Time: MW 3:30pm-4:45pm
This course is an introduction to political theory as a tradition of discourse and as a way of thinking about politics. The course surveys selected works of political theory and explores some of the recurring themes and questions that political theory addresses, especially the question of justice. This introductory course fulfils the political theory breadth requirement for the political science major.
American Politics
- Instructor: Wolbrecht, Christina
- Primary Number: POLS 20100
- CNST Number: CNST 20002
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
SOSC - old Core Social Science (SOSC) WKSS - new Core Social Science (WKSS)
American Politics
- Instructor: Wolbrecht, Christina
- Primary Number: POLS 20100
- CNST Number: CNST 20002
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
This course surveys the basic institutions and practices of American politics. The goal of the course is to gain a more systematic understanding of American politics that will help you become better informed and more articulate. The course examines the institutional and constitutional framework of American politics and identifies the key ideas needed to understand politics today. The reading and writing assignments have been designed not only to inform you, but also to help develop your analytic and research skills. The themes of the course include the logic and consequences of the separation of powers, the build-in biases of institutions and procedures, the origins and consequence of political reforms, and recent changes in American politics in the 21st century. This semester we will emphasize the significance of the upcoming 2016 elections, and the course will include election-related assignments. Although the course counts toward the Political Science major and will prepare prospective majors for further study of American politics, its primary aim is to introduce students of all backgrounds and interests to the information, ideas, and academic skills that will enable them to understand American politics better and help them become more thoughtful and responsible citizens.
Media and Politics
- Instructor: Davis, Darren
- Primary Number: POLS 30024
- CNST Number: CNST 30431
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
HPIP, MPPE
Media and Politics
- Instructor: Davis, Darren
- Primary Number: POLS 30024
- CNST Number: CNST 30431
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
Although the mass media is not formally part of the U.S. government, it is arguably the most powerful institution shaping public attitudes, creating and producing information, and communicating political information to individual citizens. Almost all exposure to politics comes not from direct experience but from mediated stories. And, with the rise of the Internet, the growth of 24-hour cable news, and the decline of the "Big Three" television networks has created, a more diffuse media environment has been created. The primary purpose of this course is to analyze the role of the media in American politics and its relationship with the public, government, and candidates for office in a democratic society.
Religion in American Politics
- Instructor: Campbell, David
- Primary Number: POLS 30028
- CNST Number: CNST 30641
- Time: MW 3:30pm-4:45pm
HPIP, MPPE
Religion in American Politics
- Instructor: Campbell, David
- Primary Number: POLS 30028
- CNST Number: CNST 30641
- Time: MW 3:30pm-4:45pm
This course will examine the many ways in which religion has been fused into American politics. In doing so, we will also explore the rising tide of secularism in the United States, which many argue has resulted from a backlash to the fusion of religion and conservative politics. Then it will turn to trying to solve the puzzle of America's religious pluralism—if religion is so politically divisive, why are Americans so accepting of (most) religions other than their own? What explains the exceptions to that acceptance? What are the implications of a secularizing America for religious pluralism?
Race/Ethnicity and American Politics
- Instructor: Pinderhughes, Dianne
- Primary Number: POLS 30035
- CNST Number: CNST 30025
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
AFSS - AFST Social Science (AFSS)
Race/Ethnicity and American Politics
- Instructor: Pinderhughes, Dianne
- Primary Number: POLS 30035
- CNST Number: CNST 30025
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
This course introduces students to the dynamics of the social and historical construction of race and ethnicity in American political life. The course explores the following core questions: What are race and ethnicity? What are the best ways to think about the impact of race and ethnicity on American citizens? What is the history of racial and ethnic formation in American political life? How do race and ethnicity link up with other identities animating political actions like gender and class? What role do American political institutions the Congress, presidency, judiciary, state and local governments, etc. play in constructing and maintaining these identity categories? Can these institutions ever be used to overcome the points of division in American society?
Criminal Constitutional Law & Procedure
- Instructor: Dailey, William
- Primary Number: POLS 30063
- CNST Number: CNST 30034
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
X
Criminal Constitutional Law & Procedure
- Instructor: Dailey, William
- Primary Number: POLS 30063
- CNST Number: CNST 30034
- Time: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
This course covers a lot of constitutional terrain involved in the area of criminal justice, from investigative steps through trial and sentencing. It covers significant issues in Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendment law as well as situating them within broader philosophical concerns about justice, Catholic Social Teaching, and the questions of race.
Democracy & Virtue?
- Instructor: Munoz, Phillip
- Primary Number: POLS 30700, PHIL 43400
- CNST Number: CNST 30619
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
Democracy & Virtue?
- Instructor: Munoz, Phillip
- Primary Number: POLS 30700, PHIL 43400
- CNST Number: CNST 30619
- Time: MW 11am-12:15pm
“Democracy & Virtue?” investigates a simple question: Does democracy foster virtue? The class will approach this question, first, through a philosophical investigation of the nature of political regimes, including democratic regimes. This investigation will take place via a careful reading of and discussions about Plato’s Republic. The class will then turn to an examination of America as a modern constitutional democracy. Our primary text for this part of class will be Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Additional readings from Montesquieu, The Federalist, and Catholic writers will also be introduced. Students should expect to read carefully and deliberately and to participate extensively in class, which will be conducted as a seminar conversation.
Foundations of Constitutional Order
- Instructor: Collins, Susan
- Primary Number: POLS 30707
- CNST Number: CNST 30638
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
HPVL
Foundations of Constitutional Order
- Instructor: Collins, Susan
- Primary Number: POLS 30707
- CNST Number: CNST 30638
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
This seminar-style course will examine foundational questions of constitutional order. We will begin from debates about the nature of political society among contemporary thinkers, Jurgen Habermas, Pope Benedict, John Rawls, and Carl Schmitt. We will then focus on key Ancient, Medieval, and Modern thinkers: Aristotle, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and the Federalist writers. Our aim will be to attain clarity about the questions that are fundamental to every constitutional order, especially the character of our "original" or pre-political condition, the status of war and peace, the nature of political authority and law, and the proper ends of political community.
Introduction to Criminology
- Instructor: Thomas, Mim
- Primary Number: SOC 20732
- CNST Number: CNST 20403
- Time: MW 5:05pm-6:20pm
SOSC - old Core Social Science (SOSC) WKSS - new Core Social Science (WKSS)
Introduction to Criminology
- Instructor: Thomas, Mim
- Primary Number: SOC 20732
- CNST Number: CNST 20403
- Time: MW 5:05pm-6:20pm
Introduction to Criminology provides students with an overview of the sociological study of law making, law breaking and the resulting social responses. In this class we not only look at a variety of crimes, but we also discuss the varying methods sociologists use to collect, interpret and evaluate data, as well as how we theorize about crime and punishment. We address questions such as "Why are some people or groups labeled as criminal, while others are not?" "Do laws in both their construction and enforcement serve everyone's interests equally?" "How can the communities in which people are embedded be considered as criminogenic?" "How are poverty, race, gender and other social factors related to crime?"
Kennedy & the Rise of the Security State
- Instructor: Iffland, Craig; Geishauser, Tess
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30033
- Time: Th 3:30-6pm
HPTP-Hesburgh Pgm Policy Topic
Kennedy & the Rise of the Security State
- Instructor: Iffland, Craig; Geishauser, Tess
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30033
- Time: Th 3:30-6pm
Sixty years ago, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, in broad daylight, in the presence of hundreds of witnesses, while traveling in his presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas. On that day, a historic presidency came to a tragic end. Two days later, the alleged assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald) was murdered by a Dallas nightclub owner (Jack Ruby) while being escorted from his cell by a host of police officers, raising the possibility of a conspiracy. The official investigation into Kennedy's assassination ("The Warren Report") was met with fierce public skepticism, precipitating numerous Congressional investigations that revealed extensive covert operations (both in the US and abroad) conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that would have been relevant to those charged with investigating the assassination. When combined with an already heightened public skepticism of the assassination itself, these revelations proved to be an enduring catalyst for a slow and steady decline of public trust in government that continues unabated to our present day. In this course, we examine the origins and rise of the "security state" in the United States, its role in significant events in the Kennedy presidency, including the investigation into his assassination, and the extent of its power both before and after Kennedy's presidency. Ultimately, students will be asked whether and to what extent the demands of national security conflict with the constitutional prerogatives of a representative democracy.
The Law of American Democracy
- Instructor: Garnett, Rick
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30435
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
HPIP
The Law of American Democracy
- Instructor: Garnett, Rick
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30435
- Time: TTh 11am-12:15pm
This course will examine ways that law structures, promotes, and governs the practice of democracy in America. Topics include key features of the American constitution, including federalism, bicameralism, the separation of powers, and judicial review; the First Amendment and the freedoms of speech and press; voting rights, elections, parties, and campaigns; and the changes caused and challenges posed by technological and other developments.
Core Texts in Const Gov II: Modern Constitutionalism
- Instructor: Keys, Mary
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30701
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
Core Texts in Const Gov II: Modern Constitutionalism
- Instructor: Keys, Mary
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 30701
- Time: TTh 2pm-3:15pm
This course investigates perennial questions of law and justice, including: What is a just political order? What is the purpose of law? What, if any, are the limits of political authority? What is the relationship between law, the polity, and virtue? What is a noble human life and how ought law and the political community foster (and not foster) such a life? What role ought religion to have in civic life? We address these questions and others though a semester-long conversation. To prompt, guide, and inform our conversation, we will read with care a handful of classic works: Augustine’s City of God; Hobbes’ Leviathan; and Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Additional short readings and special events (lectures, films, and/or conferences) will round out our course of study.
Constitutionalism, Law, & Politics II
- Instructor: Foster, Luke
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 50002
- Time: MW 12:30pm-1:45pm
HPVL, MPPE
Constitutionalism, Law, & Politics II
- Instructor: Foster, Luke
- Primary Number: X
- CNST Number: CNST 50002
- Time: MW 12:30pm-1:45pm
In "Constitutionalism, Law & Politics II: American Constitutionalism," we shall study fundamental texts of the American constitutional and political tradition in an attempt to answer questions such as: What is the purpose of government? What is the meaning of political equality? What is political liberty and how is it best secured? Since we lack the time for a comprehensive survey of American political thinkers, we shall examine select statesmen and critical historical periods, focusing on the Founding era, Lincoln and the slavery crisis, and the Progressive era and New Deal.