A Classical Approach to Law. This course consists of two main parts. The first part will be a standard course on Roman private law. Using Barry Nicholas’ Roman Law, students will study the essential features of classical Roman law: persons, property, successions, obligations, and actions. Students will also study basic legal problems through study of select cases, recorded in Justinian’s Digest. The second part of the course will then introduce students to major texts and debates in jurisprudence, such as legal positivism, modern natural law theory, and interpretivism. This is an upper-level undergraduate course. Latin is not required, but students will be expected to learn key legal vocabulary in Latin.

Subfields:  Political Theory and Public Law

PS117L "Jurisprudence" used to be numbered PS116L "Roman Law".  Students who have taken PS116L "Roman Law" in Spring 2023 cannot take PS117L "Jurisprudence" due to the substantial course overlap.  

Are you interested in, or even just curious about, earning a PhD in political science or a related
field? Great! Berkeley’s Political Science Department is thrilled to announce a new initiative to
help undergraduate students learn about pursuing a PhD in political science.

This initiative is designed to help students learn about what it means to earn a PhD in political
science and how to prepare for and apply to PhD programs. The goal is to build a community of
undergraduate scholars who will be connected with each other and with faculty and graduate
students at Berkeley. Students will learn about political science research, ways to prepare to be
a competitive PhD applicant, and receive support and advice on the application process.

The program is open to students who are in at least their second year of college studies. The
program is focused on helping students from historically minoritized or underrepresented
groups, including but not limited to, non-cis-gendered individuals, members of the queer
community, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Latinx, individuals who are
differently abled or who experience disability, first-generation college students, and those from
low-income / low-resource backgrounds.

Students who are selected for the program will participate in a series of workshops throughout
the semester, will be advised on pursuing research opportunities as an undergraduate, and will
have the opportunity to receive mentoring from graduate students and faculty. Students may
earn one credit unit for completing the program.

Apply here: https://forms.gle/ehn3S2oxCrgynAeWA

Applications will be accepted throughout the enrollment phases, with applications received by October 11th will be prioritized for the 1st enrollment phase, and applications received by November 8th evaluated for phase 2.

The faculty director for the program is Ryan Brutger (brutger@berkeley.edu).

This course is a workshop for discussing work-in-progress in moral, political, and legal theory. The central aim is to enable students to engage directly with legal scholars, philosophers, and political theorists working on important normative questions. Another aim is to bring together scholars from different disciplines and perspectives, such as economics, history, sociology, and political science, who have normative interests.

The theme for the Spring 2024 workshop is "Intelligence: Human, Animal, Artificial."

The format of the course is as follows: for the sessions with guest presenters, a designated student commentator will lead off with a 15-minute comment on the paper. The presenter will have 5-10 minutes to respond and then we will open up the discussion to the group. The first part of the course will be open to non-enrolled students, faculty, and visitors who wish to participate in the workshop discussion. We’ll stop for a break at 2:00 and those not enrolled in the course will leave. Enrolled students will continue the discussion with the guest until 3:00.

This is a cross-listed/room-shared course with the Philosophy and Political Science Departments. Students may enroll through Law (Law 210.2A), Philosophy (Philosophy 290), or Political Science (PS 211).

This semester the workshop is co-taught by Joshua Cohen and Chris Kutz.