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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "LAW/PL 328H"
COURSE NAME: "Religious Freedom in a Comparative Perspective"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall Semester 2012
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Harris Pamela
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 13:30-14:45
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisite: Junior Standing; Recommended: PL 210
OFFICE HOURS: M-F 9-12

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course aims to introduce students to the major questions posed by the rights of religious freedom (including both the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion): the origins and scope of these rights, the problems in defining them, the values with which they can conflict. To fully appreciate the political, constitutional and cultural variables shaping the rights of religious freedom, we will examine the struggle over their definition in many different jurisdictions. The course will begin with a sustained debate over what is religious freedom. We will then focus on conflicts over the formal relationship between religious and state authorities, and concrete struggles over the allocation of public wealth to religious communities, the place of religious symbols in the public sphere, religious education in public and private schools and exemptions from general legal requirements for religious claims (e.g. military service, drug laws).  We will explore the tensions between religious communities’ identity and expressive rights and liberal views of sexual morality and gender equality. We will conclude with a debate about the proper place of religion in the politics of democratic societies. In examining these issues, we will look at constitutional/fundamental rights case law and commentary from such countries as the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, India, Tunisia, Turkey and South Africa, as well as from such supra-national bodies as the UN, the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. We will address some of the most searing political debates of our day, such as those arising from the tension between: (1) liberal values of individual choice and (2)(a) religious identities experienced as compelling and (b) democratically grounded, religiously-oriented collective identities. Through intense engagement with legal materials, class debate and a mock trial, this course will be especially useful for potential law students, philosophy and religious studies students and anyone seeking a better understanding of his or her rights in a democratic society.      
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
1.   What is Religious Freedom? Philosophical Foundations and Contemporary Debates
2.   Constitutional Configurations of Religious Freedom and Religious Faith:  separation, laicism, secularism, concord, theocracy
3.   Religious Symbols and Expression in the Public Sphere – private and state-sponsored, in Parliament, courtrooms, parks and schools
4.   Religion in Public Schools – religious instruction and prayer
5.   Private Religious Education
6.   Public Exemptions for (Private?) Religious Claims – holidays, rituals   
7.   Religious Identity, Sexual Morality and Gender Equality
8.   Conclusion: Religion in the Politics of Democratic Societies  
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1.     Understanding of the basic political and philosophical issues arising from claim of religious freedom rights in multiple political and legal cultures.
2.     Understanding of constitutional context of religious freedom in different liberal, “secular” or nominally tolerant states.
3.     Familiarity with the law framing the rights of religious believers, strivers, doubters, dissidents and atheists in many different jurisdictions.
4.     Enriched understanding of current events.
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Liberty of ConscienceMartha NussbaumBasic Books9780465051649BL640.N87 Available on Ebrary!   
The Wheel of LawGary Jeffrey JacobsohnPrinceton978-0691122533KNS2162 .J33    
Constitutional TheocracyRan HirschlHarvard978-0-674-04819-5K3280.H57    
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberComments
Issues in Constitutional Law: censorial sensitivities – free speech and religion in a fundamentalist worldAndras Sajo, ed.Eleven International978-90-77596-21-0978-90-77596-21-0 
Religion and the Public Order of the European UnionRonan McCreaOxford978-0-19-959535-8KJE5530 .M38 

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Mock TrialStudents will act as lawyers and judges in a simulated religious freedom trial. They will be graded on the quality of their oral argument and written legal briefs/judicial opinions.30%
Research Paper12 page paper on an individual topic.30%
Class ParticipationClass participation, attendance and contribution to class discussion, minor research questions, and review sessions.10%
Final ExaminationFinal examination, 2:30 hour exam consisting of multiple essay questions covering the whole semester.30%
Honors assignmentExpanded research paper (20 pages), plus 15 minute oral presentation.1 honors credit

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
 

Letter grades and corresponding percentages for this class

94 – 100 points = A

90 – 93.99 pts = A-

87 – 89.99 = B+

83 – 86.99 = B

80 – 82.99 = B-

77 – 79.99 = C+

70 – 76.99 = C

60 – 69.99 = D

59.99 – 0 = F


-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Consistent attendance is fundamental to your learning. Excessive absences will affect your class participation grade, as well as the quality of your other assessed work.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

1. What is Religious Freedom? Philosophical Foundations and Contemporary Debates
Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) (Moodle)
Jefferson, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1785) (Moodle)
Nussbaum, ch. 3. (on reserve)

2. Constitutional Configurations of Religious Freedom and Religious Faith: separation, laicité, secularism, concord, theological state, identity-based/balance-focused
Jacobsohn, pp. 21-53, 54-90 (Nations and Constitutions: Dimensions of Secular Configuration, Secularism in Context: U.S. and Israel)
Hirschl, chs. 2, 4 (Constitutional Theocracy in Context, Constitutionalism versus Theocracy: Constitutional Courts and the Containment of Sacred Law), pp. 72-102 recommended (The Secularist Appeal of Constitutional Law)
Tulkins, The European Convention on Human Rights and Church-State Relations: Pluralism vs. Pluralism, 30 Cardozo L.Rev 2575 (2009)

3. Public Exemptions for (Private?) Religious Claims (Free Exercise) – holidays, rituals, conscientious objection, polygamy
Nussbaum, pp. 115-120, 135-158, 175-198 (The Struggle Over Accommodation, Fearing Strangers)
Jacobsohn, pp. 81-84, 91-103 (polygamy restrictions in India and the U.S.)
Sarla Mugdal v. India

Mock Trial: German circumcision case
October 22, 24

4. Religious Symbols and Expression in the Public Sphere
Nussbaum, pp. 252- 272 (Public Displays)
Lautsi v. Italy (ECtHR 2011); argument of Joseph Weiler before the Court (http://dotsub.com/view/65bc5332-aa10-4b8c-bc50-d051e8f4fcc7) Mancini, The Crucifix Rage, European Constitutional Law Review, 6: 6–27, 2010

5. Religion in Public Schools – religious symbols, religious and scientific instruction, prayer
Nussbaum, pp. 224-252, 306-334 (School Prayer, Moments of Silence, the Pledge of Allegiance, Evolution, Imagination and Difference in the Classroom)
McCullum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 (1948)

6. State Support of Private Religious Education
Nussbaum, ch. 7 (Aid to Sectarian Schools)

7. Religious Identity, Family Values, Sexual Morality and Gender Equality
Hirschl, pp. 177-185 (Women’s Reproductive Freedoms in Latin America)
Nussbaum, 334-346 (Fearing Strangers: Same-Sex Marriage)
Weinrib, “Speech, Religion, and the Traditional Family: Clashing Orthodoxies within the Modern Constitutional State, pp. 165-178.
Same-sex marriage: Perry v. Schwartzenegger (CA Proposition 8 litigation, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 2010)

8. Religion and the Politics of Democratic Societies
Jacobsohn, ch. 5 (Religion, Politics and the Failure of Constitutional Machinery in India)
Nussbaum, ch. 9 (Toward an “Overlapping Consensus”?)
Hirschl, pp. 241-249 (Glocalization)
Nadia Urbinati, Laïcité in Reverse: Mono-Religious Democracies and the Issue of Religion in the Public Sphere. Constellations 17 (1):4-21(2010).