Humanities and Justice Courses
* In addition to the courses listed below, a designated selection of additional courses from each semester's course list will also count toward the major. See the Humanities and Justice Course Schedule each semester for a complete list of electives. *
HJS 250. Justice in the Western Traditions
This course is the first of four required courses in the core of the Humanities and Justice major. It is an introduction to the normative history of “justice” as a principle of human personal and social organization in the experience of peoples living in the “western” world. An emphasis on primary texts allows the student to encounter first principles, and selected secondary readings introduce the student to questions posed by the attempt to define justice. Issues under study may include determinism and free will and the implication of each for the meaning of the “unjust” act; retribution and the rhetorics that justify or condemn it; divinity, hierarchy and the community as sources of justice; the social construction of such ideas as justice and “crime;” and law as the structure of rules regulating coercion and the use of force.
Prerequisites: English 101-102 or English 101-201, one of the required General Education courses in literature, history, or philosophy, and one of the General Education courses in the social sciences.
HJS 310. Comparative Perspectives on Justice
This course will study justice in the non-Western world as it is variously represented in historical, literary and philosophical texts. A sequel to HJS 250: Justice in the Western Traditions, it builds upon the analytical skills developed in that course and extends its geographical boundaries to the Mideast, Asia, Africa and the other Americas. By studying how social, political, and religious institutions shape understandings of justice and injustice, and how these concepts define race, gender, ethnicity and class, the course focuses on articulations and practices of justice that are different from the Western constructs considered in HJS 250. Through comparative investigations of encounters between societies resulting from conquest, trade and social exchange, it will explore justice as culturally inflected, the product at once of a particular regional or national identity and history, and of intercultural contact.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201, HJS 250 and junior standing. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HJS 315. Research Methods in Humanities and Justice Studies
An introduction to the methods by problems are defined and investigated in the humanities, this is the second of four courses comprising the core sequence of the major. It introduces the student to methods of inquiry in the three primary disciplines of the major: history, philosophy, and literature. The logic, design, and execution of the research process are considered, as well as the appropriate uses of primary and secondary sources. Electronic and non-electronic research aids will be examined, as will the research strategies most commonly employed by practicing historians, literary critics, and philosophers.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201, all reading/writing skill courses and completion of one course from the general education requirements in each of history, literature, and philosophy. Corequisite: completion of or enrollment in HJS 250. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HJS 410. Problems and Theory: Thesis Prospectus
A course in which the student develops the ability to design advanced research projects drawing on the methodologies and practices of the humanities. Designed as a “studio” or workshop course, the seminar’s activities will be built around the research interests of the students as they develop topics and methodologies for the senior thesis in the Humanities and Justice major. The final product of the course will be a prospectus for the senior thesis that is acceptable to the seminar instructor.
Prerequisites: ENG 102 or ENG 201, HJS 315, and 9 credits in the interdisciplinary components of the major. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HJS 415. Thesis in Humanities and Justice Studies
Designed for students in their final semester to conduct a significant investigation of a topic of their choosing in the area of humanities and justice studies. Designed as a "studio" course, the seminar's activities will be built around the prospectus developed by the student in HJS 410: Problems and Theory: Thesis Prospectus. The final product of the course will be a senior thesis that is acceptable to the seminar instructor and to the student's adviser.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201, and HJS 410. 3 hours, 3 credits.
History Courses
HIS 219. Violence and Social Change in America
Examination of the role played by violence in American life. Exploration of selected problems relating to the politics of war, poverty, and racism.
Prerequisites: English 101 and sophomore standing or above. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HIS 224. A History of Crime in New York City
How criminal entrepreneurs seized the opportunities of their particular eras, from colonial days to the present. Topics include: pirates (Captain Kidd) and smugglers; slave revolts; river and railroad gangs; gambling and prostitution; prohibition-era bootlegging and the rise of organized crime (from the Mafia to Murder Incorporated); stock market fraud; crime on the waterfront; shoplifting; labor and business racketeering; drug dealing; arson for profit; computer fraud; the savings and loan scandal; environmental crime; and street gangs, with special attention to those (Gophers, Westies) in the John Jay neighborhood.
Prerequisite: English 101. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HIS 277. American Legal History
An analysis of the forces and circumstances that have influenced the course of American civil, criminal, and Constitutional law from the 17th Century to the present. The course concentrates on the change from English-based common law through the rise of industrial capitalism in the late 19th Century and the development of the modern welfare state in the 20th Century and emphasizes such developments as the growth of the contract and corporate law, the use of litigation as an economic weapon, the rise of an independent judiciary and the ensuing conflict with the legislatures of both nation and state, the role of the legal profession in shaping the legal system, and the social role of law in American life.
Prerequisites: English 101 and sophomore standing or above. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HIS 320. The History of Crime and Punishment in the United States
Ways in which Americans have defined crime, explained its causes, and punished and rehabilitated criminals. The relationships among crime, social values, and social structure. Areas of emphasis include colonial Massachusetts and Virginia; the creation of police forces and prisons during the first half of the 19th Century; criminality during the Gilded Age and Progressive Period; Prohibition; creation of the FBI; crime and the Great Depression; and some aspects of crime and punishment between 1950 and 1970.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201 and junior standing or above. 3 hours, 3 credits.
HIS 325. Criminal Justice in European Society, 1750 to the Present
The origins of the Western system of criminal justice in early modern Europe and a comparative analysis of recent developments in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. Examination of the evolving definition of crime and changes in criminal law, methods of enforcement, and types of punishment in relation to the growth of urban and industrial society and the extension of state power. Topics include witchcraft, the Inquisition, the classical and positivist schools of criminology, prostitution and homosexuality, birth and development of the prison, establishment of professional police forces, the Mafia, and European terrorism.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201; History 231 and 232, and junior standing or above; or permission of the section instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits.
Literature Courses
LIT 223. African-American Literature
A study of the writing of African-Americans from colonial times to the present, with special attention to influential African-American writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Toomer, Hughes, Wright, Brooks, Ellison, Baldwin, Baraka, and Malcolm X. Readings in novels, plays, autobiographies, short stories, poems, folktales, and essays will explore a wide range of African-American aesthetic responses to life in the United States.
Prerequisites : English 101-102 or English 101-201. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Same course as African-American Studies Literature 223.)
LIT 290. Special Topics
A single-semester course dealing with an announced topic, theme, or author.
Prerequisites: English 101-102 or English 101-201. 3 hours, 3 credits.
LIT 313. Shakespeare
Examination of a selection of Shakespeare's plays and genres through close analysis of the texts, a historical placement of the drama within the values and ideologies of the early modern period, and performance. Students direct and perform passages from the plays under study and watch film versions of the same passages.
Prerequisite: one of the following: Lit 230, 231, 232, or 233. 3 hours, 3 credits.
LIT 315. American Literature and the Law
The course will bring together American literary and legal texts in order to examine the ways in which the two can illuminate each other. It will focus on the works of American literature that take law as their central theme; works that include trials or are inspired by famous cases; works that have lawyers as protagonists; and works that address issues of law and justice. Students will also bring methods of literary analysis to bear on the study of important cases or legal decisions in order to understand the rhetoric of law, the unstated assumptions contained in it, and the voices excluded from it.
Prerequisite: one of the following: Lit 230, 231, 232, or 233. 3 hours, 3 credits.
LIT 316. Gender and Identity in Literary Traditions
A close examination of how gender functions to shape both authorship and literary texts. Students will invesigate how writers use conventions of sex and gender, and how readers critically assess these literary representations. The instructor will choose the genre and periodization in any given semester. Emphasis will be divided between primary literary texts, relevant historical documents, and selected theoretical commentary.
Prerequisite: one of the following: Lit 230, 231, 232, or 233. 3 hours, 3 credits.
LIT 327. Crime and Punishment in Literature
A study of works treating the theme of crime and related matters, such as motivation, guilt, and responsibility. Works are considered from the psychological, sociological, and philosophical points of view, as well as from the purely literary standpoint. Authors include Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Dostoevski, Poe, Melville.
Prerequisite: one of the following: Lit 230, 231, 232, or 233. 3 hours, 3 credits.
LIT 340. The African-American Experience: Comparative Racial Perspectives
An examination of African-American life through the works of both African-American and white writers. The course will look at the inter-relationships and differences between African-American and white perspectives. Authors such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Melville, Wright, Baldwin, Mark Twain, Faulkner, Ellison, Welty, and Baraka will be read.
Prerequisite: one of the following: Lit 230, 231, 232, or 233. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Same course as African-American Studies Literature 340.)
LIT 390. Individual Reading
Submission of a project of reading and research for approval by the instructor. A paper and periodic conferences are required. Special arrangements may be made to do this work over the summer.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201 and junior standing or above. 3 credits.
LIT 401. Special Topics
Specific study of a topic chosen by the instructor and students.
Prerequisite: Any 300-level literature course. 3 hours, 3 credits.
SPA 208. The Theme of Justice in 20th-Century Spanish Literature
This course traces the theme of justice in 20-Century Spanish literature. A variety of examples will be used in exploring this topic. Justice as seen in the relationship of the individual and the state, person to person, man to the Divine, etc., will be viewed through the works of Max Aub, Camilo José Cela, Carmen Laforêt, Jacinto Benavente, and other contemporary writers. The works will be read in English translation.
Prerequisites: English 101. In addition: English 102 or 201 or permission of the section instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits.
Philosophy Courses
PHI 304. Philosophy of the Mind
This course presents discussion and critical assessment of some of the major philosophical questions concerning the mind: What is the mind? How much can we know about the self? Can we completely understand the mind in physico-chemical terms? What are the moral, political, and ethical implications of our understanding of the mind? The course will survey the most important approaches to these questions, including dualism, behaviorism, identity theory, functionalism, eliminativism, and others.
Prerequisite: English 102 or 201; Philosophy 231, or permission of the section instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits.
PHI 310. Ethics and Law
Inquiry into the relationship between morality and law; their organic interrelationship in the natural law tradition; their separation in positivism. The contemporary debate illustrated by the issues of human and civil rights; the enforcement of sexual morality, civil disobedience, and the ethics of law enforcement.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Philosophy 231 or permission of the section instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Same course as Law 310.)
PHI 322. Judicial and Correctional Ethics
A treatment of some of the central issues of judicial and correctional ethics. Traditional ethical theories will be applied to such topics as plea bargaining, bail and preventive detention, wiretapping, enforcement of sexual morality, sentencing, punishment, prisoners' rights, and parole.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Philosophy 231 or permission of the section instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Same course as Criminal Justice 322.)
PHI 326. Topics in the History of Modern Thought
An exploration of one of the basic philosophic movements or conceptual themes that characterize modernity, such as individualism, natural rights, freedom/liberty, utilitarianism, the Enlightenment, secularization, or existentialism. The course will analyze the metaphysical as well as the political presuppositions of the selected theme in relation to its historical context.
Prerequsites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Philosophy 231 or permission of the instructor. (The course instructor will choose the semester's theme.) 3 hours, 3 credits.
PHI 340. Utopian Thought
Representations of ideal societies have played an important part in discussions of justice since Plato's Republic . This course will focus on some of the classical utopian (and dystopian) texts as well as on representative contemporary literary efforts in the utopian tradition. We will also examine some of the philosophical, literary, and historiographical analyses of utopian thought and of the social phenomena associated with it.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Philosophy 231 or permission of the instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits.
PHI 423. Selected Topics in Justice
An advanced senior-level seminar focusing on the philosophical concept of justice, with the specific topics or issues under consideration to be chosen by the instructor. Topics can be either theoretical and applied, and may include, but are not limited to, any of the following: an advanced survey of contemporary philosophical theories of justice; the textual analysis of one philosophic classic on justice, e.g., John Rawls' Theory of Justice ; the philosophy of punishment and retribution; justice -- distributive and compensatory; the impact of race, gender, and class on the contemporary philosophical analysis of justice.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Philosophy 231, one 300-level philosophy or political theory course, or permission of the instructor. 3 hours, 3 credits. (Same course as Government 423.)
Topics in Criminal Justice
LAW 301. Jurisprudence
Study of the theory and philosophy of law and the relationship between law and society. Special attention to the problem of disobedience, the nature of the judicial process, and issues of law and personal morality. Exploration of current controversies about civil disobedience, the role of the courts, "non-victim" crimes, and the relationship of the police to the rule of law.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: junior standing or above. 3 hours, 3 credits.
GOV 375. Law, Order, Justice, and Society
Consideration of the ideas of major writers in the field of political theory who have contributed insight into the concepts of law, order, justice, and society. Topics will include conceptions of human nature, natural law, social contract, and the sources and nature of political leadership. Considerable attention will be devoted to the relevance of the ideas discussed to contemporary American society.
Prerequisites: English 102 or 201. In addition: Government 101 and junior standing or above. 3 hours, 3 credits.