John Coughlin

The question of God(s) pertains to the existence, manifestations, meaning, and attributes of the sacred. Although conceptions about the sacred are inevitably shaped by history and culture, the fundamental question of God(s) has had an enduring presence throughout human experience. This course takes up this perennial human question from the context of some of the world's major religious traditions including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism. What similarities do these great traditions share, and how does their understanding of the sacred differ? Additionally, the course explores the relation between reason and faith. How does the empirical verification characteristic of an increasingly pervasive scientific and technological worldview impact on belief in God(s)? Readings for the course are drawn from a variety of disciplines with a focus on primary sources and seminal works.

This course poses the fundamental questions: "What is law?"; "What is a legal system?"; and "What is the rule of law?" Appreciating that law reflects different cultural and historical facts, the course employs a comparative methodology in order to explore the fundamental questions from the perspective of various legal traditions. This comparative methodology considers jurisprudence from African, Chinese, Hindu, Marxist, Islamic, Southeast Asian, and Western legal traditions. In relation to these diverse legal traditions, the course examines the topics of natural law, legal positivism, interpretivism, legal realism, justice, human rights, critical legal studies, feminist jurisprudence, critical race theory, and post-modernist jurisprudence.

1 credits

Students attend weekly sessions that entail delivering speeches, debating and/or mooting. The sessions are intended to foster clear analysis, the development of persuasive arguments, and effective oral presentation. Students who fulfill the course requirements (as stipulated in the course syllabus) receive 1 credit hour per semester up to a maximum of 4 credit hours over the course of four academic semesters. First year students are not eligible to enroll in this course during their first semester.

2 credits

Over half of the world's population now lives in cities, this share has been forecast to increase to close to 70% by 2050. With growing urbanization, cities and their residents have become major consumers of natural resources. However, if urban growth is managed properly, cities also have the potential to be efficient and sustainable users of natural resources, especially in this era of advanced technology that allows for remote monitoring and control of resource use. Recognizing the challenges that cities face and their potential, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is to "make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" by 2030. This seminar will analyze innovative sustainability policies implemented in leading cities around the world and examine the opportunities - and potential drawbacks - to allowing global cities to play an increasingly significant role in environmental regulation. The seminar will feature in-depth case studies of seven mega-cities (Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Berlin, London, New Delhi, New York, and Shanghai) in an attempt to find common features to cities' environmental initiatives.

This course examines the ethical issues raised by the function of law and lawyers in protecting individual rights and advancing the common good. The increasing globalization and transnational practice of law warrants a comparative perspective with regard to specific issues in legal ethics. Legal materials are drawn from a variety of jurisdictions, such as Australia, China, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in order to elucidate the relevant issues in legal ethics. Among the issues addressed are the legal profession and professional identity, trust, truth telling, confidentiality, conflict, client autonomy, access to legal services, cause lawyering, ethical breaches, and malpractice. These ethical issues in law are considered from a range of philosophical, cultural, social, economic, political, and religious perspectives.

In this seminar forum under the guidance of a legal studies faculty member and in the academic community of the seminar participants, students identify a discrete legal text, case, or issue (or several thereof), and then engage in critical analysis from not only legal but also from philosophical, cultural, social, economic, religious, and ethical perspectives. While identifying the question(s), students undertake requisite research and begin drafting a senior thesis.

Prerequisite: Declared Legal Studies major and senior standing

On the basis of the work developed in the Capstone Seminar, students write a senior thesis, a significant paper that is intended as the culmination of the legal studies curriculum. During the Capstone Project, the student takes fundamental responsibility in meeting the challenge to contribute to knowledge, reframe conventional approaches, and/or create something new. At the end of the Spring semester, each student will present her/his thesis before a panel of three faculty members.

Prerequisite: LAW-UH 4000