The Rights Revolution: American Society and the Supreme Court, c.1935-c.1990 (U01609)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : HCA-3-RR

The course begins with an introduction to the American judiciary and with a chronological overview of key developments in the history of protections for individual rights and group rights between about 1935 and about 1990. The approach is then thematic, with investigations of key issues such as race, civil liberties during times of war, gender equality, defendants' rights, capital punishment, privacy, gay rights, and abortion. (The list of issues may vary from year to year.) For each issue, the course investigates key Supreme Court cases, and it explores reactions to them among the public, among interest groups, and among politicians. The course includes a sampling of work by prominent theorists about the issue in question. The final part of the course discusses conclusions about the origins of the 'rights revolution' and its overall impact on American politics and society.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : A pass in any first level historical course and any second level historical course or equivalent. Before enrolling students on this course, Directors are asked to contact the History Honours Admissions Secretary to ensure that a place is available (tel. 503783).

? Prohibited combinations : This course may not be included in the same curriculum as The American Civil Rights Movement (U02603).

Subject Areas

Home subject area

History, (School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Schedule E)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	11:10	13:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will have an effective understanding of a diverse, but related, set of issues in American society, greatly important and unceasingly controversial. The context for this understanding will be, most notably, that of their treatment by the Supreme Court and that of their historical development. They will examine the role of the Constitution in American society and they will consider the place of the Supreme Court as an engine - or a facilitator - of social change. The course seeks to illuminate how groups and individuals initiate activity, whether successful or unsuccessful, in support of a particular goal. From a historiographical perspective, students will assess the effectiveness of this institution-centred approach, thus meeting a question of interest to many historians of the United States. In addition, through their reading of selected works by contemporary theorists, students will think about how historians should handle these texts. Through their studies in this course, students will develop further the historical skills that they amassed during earlier courses in history. They will learn more about how to read both secondary literature and primary sources, and about how to draw conclusions from them. On the basis of this work, they will assemble arguments and interpretations of their own, then communicate these through written and oral means, and respond to the arguments and interpretations of others.