Honors

Humanizing the Law

HON 298 - Professor Maryann Rossi

We live in a society of laws.  The American Revolution itself was both legal and political in its arguments.  Our society is steeped in English Common Law based upon traditional concepts of justice and precedents. We adhere to laws passed by legislatures.  As such our literature reflects our society.  As Americans we often equate right and wrong with legal and illegal.  They are not necessarily the same.  For instance in Billy Budd Melville suggest there is an eternal conflict between good and evil.  In Kluger’s Simple Justice, laws which mitigate against participation in society and persist into the twentieth century will also be examined.  In a global society there are enormous cultural challenges. The ability to understand the various discourses and their relationships to one another, i.e. law, literature, art, human rights, helps to respond to these challenges.

All of the works of literature selected for this course have also been made into movies and we will take advantage of the added dimension and dramatic look provided by cinema. We will be able to compare and contrast the literature with the statements and interpretations being made in the movies.