Global Legal History (248-0-20)
Instructors
Helen Louise Tilley
847/467-3014
Harris Hall - Room 335
Helen Tilley studies African colonial and postcolonial history with a particular focus on medical, racial, environmental, and anthropological themes. She is finishing a book on the history of traditional medicine and its relationship to African decolonization, global governance, and ethnoscientific research during the Cold War.
Meeting Info
Frances Searle Building 1421: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
How does our understanding of global history change when we foreground law and empire? To what extent have international legal regimes arisen out of imperial dynamics? Why were slavery and settler colonialism so important to so many constitutional histories? This course takes up these and other questions in order to make sense of the interplay between laws, empires, and corporate entities around the world over the last four centuries (circa 1600 to 2000). We will examine: 1) the origins and effects of mixed jurisdictions (or legal pluralism) in different regions; 2) the ways empires have shaped key concepts of sovereignty and citizenship; 3) the role of transnational corporations in bolstering imperial rule; 4) the roots of empire in the history of human rights and international law; 5) scientific versus legal definitions of racial identities and indigeneity; and 6) entanglements between cultural and intellectual property.
Learning Objectives
To increase your knowledge of global and transnational history; to deepen your understanding of the historical interplay among law, empire, and global governance; and to refine your expository writing skills.
Teaching Method
Lecture, Discussion Sections, In class discussion, Writing Assignments, Readings
Evaluation Method
Reading responses, Timeline exercises, Short Essays, Final Essay or Project, Discussions
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Historical Studies Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Associated Classes
DIS - Locy Hall 305: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - University Hall 118: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Harris Hall L04: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM