David Ritchie

This class is a comparative survey of constitutionalism, ancient and modern. We will explore the theoretical foundations of constitutionalism, and discuss the implications of this widespread phenomenon. Of special interest will be the philosophical underpinnings of founding documents in historical context. We will review the different models of constitutionalism, paying particular attention to modern constitutional movements in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Each student will choose a founding movement, and explore the constitutional development that flowed from that founding.

Law and Cinema focuses on the representations of law and the legal system as they appear in popular cinema. The class will explore several film genres (e.g., film noir, science fiction, and westerns) and discuss the way in which the popular cultural representatives of law both reflect and re-inscribe certain presumptions about law and its role as a social system. Students will watch between 8 to 10 films throughout the term and will read and discuss the academic literature on cinema as a narrative vehicle.

This course will critically examine selected legal and moral doctrines related to international armed conflict, including both the right of states to resort to force (jus ad bellum) and the rules governing the conduct of hostilities (jus in bello). We will look at the relationship of legal rules and moral codes to the just war tradition, and how normative principles shape the conduct and critique of international armed conflict. Topics may include, among others, the nature and scope of legitimate, proportional self-defense; the treatment of prisoners of war/detainees; war crimes; humanitarian intervention; the law governing resort to force against contemporary terrorist networks; the justification for non-combatant immunity and the converse combatant's privilege; proportionality in the conduct of war; drone warfare and other targeted killings; and other contemporary controversies that characterize armed conflict in the early twenty-first century.