PBS's* The Supreme Court:
Things to keep in mind for this class
One of the difficulties in teaching a survey course in American constitutional law and development is to convey the issues, cases, and personalities in the contexts in which they arose and played out. In the past, I've taught this material from the traditional categories of constitutional explication: e.g., "Separation of Powers," "Federalism," "Civil Liberties," and "Civil Rights." Although this approach has the virtue of analytical focus, it does sacrifice historical context. To address this concern, I've altered the structure and presentation of the material covered in the class by adopting something of a historical approach to its discussion.
As outlined in the syllabus, we will treat the cases we cover in rough historical chunks. Within each chuck o' time, we will examine cases and personalities according to schema tied to 1) constitutional analysis and 2) the dominant concerns of the Courts within the chunks of time. For example, in the first section of the course we examine the Marshall and Taney Courts in their dealings with questions of judicial power, national power, and economic rights. Issues encompassed by these topics ebb and flow over the course of the American political experience, and they the will in our discussion of subsequent eras of the history of the Court's treatment of them. Along the way, new constitutional/political issues arise and are fit into matrix of judicial attention and explication. At the end of the course, we will have covered the major concerns of a traditional survey of constitutional law.
Epstein and Walker's introductory essays on the cases we read and class lectures will be the primary source for historical context. We will also use the PBS series The Supreme Court to help infuse our treatment of judicially overseen constitutional development with more contextual color. The first two shows rely heavily on reenactment, paintings, and photos to provide a feel for the times, while the last two have the benefit of film and video to frame the story the producers want to tell.
Realize, too, that the producers of this series are telling a story. They are not reproducing history. The Supreme Court is itself a work of creation. Interpretation is central to all creative efforts. It is also central to making sense of them and critiquing them. An interesting question, and one that professional critics play with all the time, is how well the production captures what it sought to portray and convey.
Links of Potential Relevance to Your Task
PBS Links
Transcripts:
Some Reviews
Reviews from a variety of national newspapers at Metacritic.
David Garrow on the Legal History Blog, 23 January 2007.
Scott Gerber in The Journal of American History, December 2006.
Eathan Leib at Findlaw, 6 February 2007.
Tony Mauro at Legal Times, 30 January 2007.
Series Awards and Honors
|
|
*Produced by Hidden Hill Productions for Thirteen/WNET New York