Law and Memory Seminar

Course Catalog Number:
5803
Course Credits:
3
Course Type:
Seminar
Course Priority:
Seminar - 3rd Year Priority
Graduation Requirements:
Upper-Level Writing
International / Comparative
"W" Writing
Full Year Course:
No

Course Description

Recent years have seen a growing importance to the debate over the role of law in matters of historical significance and in dealing with what is referred to as “collective memory.” The experience of the Second World War is illustrative of the capacities and incapacities of law as a remedy for crimes against humanity. In more recent years, other models have been preferred, such as Truth and Reconciliation Hearings.
The seminar will address various models of resolution when grave crimes against humanity have been perpetrated against members of a society under a previous regime, whether against a majority or a minority of the population. The objective will be to analyze the situation for transitional periods of society and for their aftermath.