美國憲法

Course description: This course provides an overview of the history, structure and power of the government, legal principles, and important cases in subfields of the US Constitution. Learning the US Constitution not only helps us understand the foundation of the US legal system but also serves as a resource to rethink constitutional issues in our country. This course will be in-person meetings in campus classroom. Students should read the assigned readings before class and discuss the materials in class. The instructor will provide the readings, which are generally case excerpts of US Supreme Court decisions concerning the constitutional issues/course topic of each week. There is no textbook for this course. Learning objectives: This course aims to ensure that students explore and understand: 1. the history of the US Constitution; 2. separation of power and federalism; 3. due process of law and equal protection; 4. fundamental rights; 5. skills of searching, reading, and briefing cases. Expected learning outcomes: After completing this class, the students are expected to: 1. deepen their understanding of the framework and main topics of the US Constitution; 2. communicate effectively in writing and orally in English on constitutional law matters; 3. know how to prepare, analyze, and answer questions concerning constitutional law in the US bar exam; 4. be able to write clear, critical and persuasive legal documents and academic papers.

No requirements for students to take this course. However, basic understanding of the US and/or Taiwanese constitutional law is recommended, and good English writing and speaking proficiency are expected.

Students can contact the instructor via email. TA:張皓程 email: a0919027564@gmail.com

1. Student's grade is based on the following components: 1 Case briefing and presentation (20%) Three undergraduate students or two graduate students will be a group, and every group is responsible for briefing and presenting an U.S. Supreme Court case. The case-presenters are required to summarize the assigned case and provide their questions and comments. The presentation should be around 20 minutes, in English, with PowerPoint slides. The group for case-presentation has to upload the slides 24 hours before class. 2 Class participation (20%) Attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to actively participate in class discussion. Raising substantive questions/comments/responses in class is highly encouraged and will earn points. 3 Final paper (60%) (1) Graduate students: 2000 (±200) words in English or 5000 (±500) words in Mandarin; (2) Undergraduate students: 1500 (±200) words in English or 4000 (±500) words in Mandarin. The paper should describe a constitutional law issue and analyze it with US constitutional doctrines and cases discussed in this course. Students shall submit the paper to E3 course platform by June 15. 2. No midterm and final exam.

No required textbook. The instructor will provide the assigned readings, which are generally case excerpts of US Supreme Court decisions. On the other hand, students who are responsible for briefing cases can find the entire court decision on Westlaw database and other publicly accessible resources. Students are also encouraged to browse the SCOTUS blog (http://www.scotusblog.com/) to follow latest US Supreme Court cases.

地點

Instructor's office

時間

By appointment

聯絡方式

yhkuo@nycu.edu.tw