Law Schedule of Classes

NOTE: Course offerings change. Classes offered this semester may not be offered in future semesters.

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 2025)

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 2:10 PM - 3:25 PM
Location: Law 113
From January 14, 2025
To April 24, 2025

Course Start: January 14, 2025
Course End: April 24, 2025
Class Number: 32839

Enrollment info:
Enrolled: 13
Waitlisted: 0
Enroll Limit: 24
As of: 11/23 11:55 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 Professor Eric Stover, Co-Faculty Director of the UCB Human Rights Center. Stover’s expertise is in public health, qualitative methodologies, international humanitarian and criminal law, human trafficking, war crimes investigations, and forensics. He brings 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. 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). Students should have a topic(s) in mind for the writing workshop. Please feel free to reach out to Professor Eric Stover (stovere@berkeley.edu) during the registration period.

Requirements Satisfaction:


This class fulfills Option 2 of the J.D. writing requirement for all students in the course. All students must write 30 pages and complete a draft.


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

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Readers:
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Books:
Instructor has indicated that no books will be assigned.

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