Apart from their assigned mod courses, 1L students may only enroll in courses offered as 1L electives. A complete list of these courses can be found on the 1L Elective Listings page. 1L students must use the 1L class number listed on the course description when enrolling.
262.65 sec. 001 - Human Rights and Social Justice Writing Workshop (Spring 2023)
Instructor: Carolyn P Blum (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only)
Instructor: Eric Stover (view instructor's teaching evaluations - degree students only | profile)
View all teaching evaluations for this course - degree students only
Units: 3
Grading Designation: Graded
Mode of Instruction: In-Person
Meeting:
TuTh 11:20 AM - 12:35 PM
Location: Law 107
From January 10, 2023
To April 20, 2023
Course End: April 20, 2023
Class Number: 32439
Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 15
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 18
As of: 08/24 11:03 PM
Human rights is a body of domestic and international law that seeks to promote human dignity, equality, and justice. Writing about topics within this field of law opens up many possibilities for grappling with the root causes and prevention of human suffering, the protection of citizens living in armed conflict or under authoritarian or corrupt states, and the broad array of ways to seek and gain justice.
This seminar will provide an opportunity to write a paper suitable for publication. The written product could examine topics within the broad categories of legal accountability, transitional justice, war crimes, health and human rights, climate change, gender-based violence, the rights of LGBTI persons, counter-terrorism policies, gun violence, forensics, human trafficking, and migrant and refugee rights. The seminar will begin with a discussion of how to create the architecture and content for excellent scholarly writing. For the bulk of the semester, we will host a range of guest lecturers including legal scholars, journalists, and editors who will advise students on engaging writing techniques and how to prepare their work for publication. Students will also present drafts of certain sections of their papers for in-class feedback and discussion.
The seminar is co-taught by Professors Carolyn Patty Blum, Clinical Professor of Law, Emerita, and Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the UCB Human Rights Center. Blum was the founder of the law school’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and previously taught this seminar at Berkeley Law. She has extensive experience representing refugees and litigating human rights cases in U.S. courts and working in and writing about transitional justice, human rights and culture, counter-terrorism policies, criminal accountability, and extradition. Stover’s expertise is in public health, qualitative methodologies, international humanitarian and criminal law, human trafficking, torture, war crimes, and forensics. Together, they bring decades of experience and a belief in the importance of clear and thoughtful writing as a precursor to any future career in law or policy.
Over the semester, participants will draft a 30-page piece of academic writing, such as a chapter for a Masters or Ph.D. dissertation, an article for an academic journal, or a long-form journalistic piece. The course is designed for JD, LLM, JSD and Ph.D. candidates from the JSP programs, as well as graduate students from other departments and schools. The final product can be used to meet Berkeley Law’s writing requirement. Students will be assigned to one of the professors to be their primary supervisors. The course requirements will be weekly readings, including a careful reading of the works-in-progress of their classmates, active class participation, and the submission of a final, polished paper (with at least one complete revision).
Attendance at the first class is mandatory for all currently enrolled and waitlisted students; any currently enrolled or waitlisted students who are not present on the first day of class (without prior permission of the instructor) will be dropped. The instructor will continue to take attendance throughout the add/drop period and anyone who moves off the waitlist into the class must continue to attend or have prior permission of the instructor in order not to be dropped.
|
Requirements Satisfaction:
This class may fulfill Option 2 of the J.D. writing requirement with instructor approval. In order to qualify for Option 2, all students in the class must be writing a paper of 30 or more pages. Those students who wish to use this paper for the writing requirement must get instructor approval and submit their drafts for comment and revision. |
View teaching evaluations for this class - degree students only
Exam Notes: (P) Final paper
(Subject to change by faculty member only through the first two weeks of instruction)
Course Category: International and Comparative Law
This course is listed in the following sub-categories:
Social Justice and Public Interest
If you are the instructor or their FSU, you may add a file like a syllabus or a first assignment to this page.
Readers:
No reader.
Books:
Instructor has not yet confirmed their textbook order, please check back later.