Famous American Trials (221-0-20)

Instructors

Joanna Grisinger
847 491 3987
620 Lincoln St #201

Meeting Info

Harris Hall 107: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

The American courtroom has provided a venue through which Americans have grappled with moral panics, political tensions, celebrity scandal, and mass violence. The high-profile prosecutions of people ranging from Leopold and Loeb to OJ Simpson had a powerful hold on American culture at the time. And although these trials rarely had a significant effect on the law, they remain potent cultural touchstones, their stories told and retold through movies, television shows, podcasts, songs, and souvenirs. This course examines several famous American trials—famous both in their time and today—to understand and examine key themes in American political, legal, social, economic, and cultural history. We will focus on the twentieth century—a period of multiple "Trials of the Century" —to see how each trial crystallized broader political and social tensions over ethnicity, gender, race, religion, politics, sexuality, and social status. Each trial combined elements of both formal law and public theater; through these trials, we'll examine the relationship between legal reasoning and storytelling. We will also examine how and why we return to such stories; how do they endure in historical memory, and what tensions do they help us think about today?

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Americas
History Minor Concentration(s): United States, Law and Crime

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is restricted to History Majors and Minors only until the end of pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites (if any)

Associated Classes

DIS - Harris Hall L05: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM

DIS - Harris Hall L04: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - Annenberg Hall G28: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Harris Hall L07: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Kresge Cent. Hall 2-380 Kaplan: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-343: Fri 3:00PM - 3:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-440: Thurs 3:00PM - 3:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Thurs 4:00PM - 4:50PM

DIS - Harris Hall L06: Fri 4:00PM - 4:50PM