THE HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT

HISTORY/LEGALST 476

Introduction to the central historical developments of law and legal institutions in the European middle ages (400-1500).

HISTORY/LEGALST 235

Examines the development of prisons from the ancient Mediterranean world to the present in the US and Europe. Pays particular attention to the way in which imprisonment has been used against marginalized populations. Examines the development of carceral tactics across a number of registers, including the prison as an ancient political tactic, the economic logic of early modern debtors' prisons, the relationship of prisons and workhouses to forms of capitalism, prisons and colonial expansion, the relationship between mass incarceration and democratic forms of government, as well as the connections between the abolition of slavery and modern carceral practices. Also looks at the legal and constitutional limitations that have been put on imprisonment by the American legal system. Relies on interdisciplinary approaches to the study of prisons, including History, law, literature, and political theory.

HISTORY/LEGALST 261

Surveys the development of American law down to the U.S. Civil War. Reviews the English historical background, and examines how law changed in colonial America, culminating in the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Explores how territorial expansion, democracy, and slavery shaped nineteenth-century American law. Emphasis is on how law interacts with political, social, and cultural change, with a focus on the origins of modern civil and constitutional rights.

LAW 916

Using a variety of interdisciplinary readings, ranging from fiction to philosophy to psychology, examine the types of punishment used by the America criminal justice system, and the varied justifications offered for them.

HISTORY/LEGALST 459

From the perspectives of history and political theory, examines the multiple meanings of the idea of the rule of idea, and its uses in American history. Explore prominent critiques of the rule of law ideal.