The Faculty Lounge: Teaching Legal History

I want to build on Al?s previous post on legal history and bring the discussion into the classroom.

Last semester I taught a legal history seminar that I designed myself entitled History and Analysis of the Equal Protection Clause. And judging by my student evaluations, the students really enjoyed both me and the class. But one problem that I noticed was getting my students to discuss legal history on its own merits. That is to say, students did not seem much interested in what Al terms pure legal history. On the other hand, students were very open to discussing applied legal history.

Here?s what I mean. Students read pieces concerning the 39th Congress and the drafting of the Fourteenth Amendment. When the discussion was focused on what ?equal protection? meant in the 1860s with no connection to present-day controversies, class discussion was less lively. But, when the discussion was focused on what the ratifying generation's original understanding of ?equal protection? means for gender discrimination today, class discussion bustled.

It would be interesting if other professors have similar findings.

Source: http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2012/07/teaching-legal-history.html

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