Religion and the Constitution   [Archived Catalog]
2017-2018 School of Law Bulletin
   

LAWS 823 - Religion and the Constitution


Credits: 2

This course will: (1) review seminal Supreme Court precedents addressing the free exercise of religion and the Establishment Clause;(2) introduce students to influential scholarship addressing the Religion Clauses; and (3) analyze important contemporary controversies involving both the interpretation of the Religion Clauses and the challenge of integrating other constitutional guarantees with the protection of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The course will also have a comparative component in which American constitutional approaches to questions such as the manifestation of religious identity, the role of religion in civic ceremonies, and the relationship between government and religious institutions as well as the relationship between civil and religious law will be juxtaposed with the legal experience of other nations.

Basis of Grade: Either a final examination or three writing assignments, at the discretion of the professor

Form of Grade: Letter