Thread: Constitution and Bill of Rights at UNC?

Friends,

Someone wrote me an email with an interesting idea. Can anyone do some research to tell us if UNC Chapel Hill offers a course on the US Constitution and Bill of Rights? I know they have a law school at UNC but I wonder if these topics are covered enough after what we saw happen over there.

If they do not have adequate courses on these topics, perhaps we should ask them to add one as part of the General College requirements?

W

Found this one so far W:


Constitution And The Political Process

Course Number: Law 312
Hours: 3
Course Type: Upper Level
Writing Requirement: Rigorous Writing Experience (RWE)
Final Exam?: No
Description:
This seminar will study the state and federal constitutional and statutory law that governs various aspects of the electoral process. Issues to be covered include political gerrymandering and redistricting, alternative election methods, minority voting rights including language minorities, campaign finance reform, the Help America Vote Act and election reform issues, lobbying regulations, and felony disenfranchisement. While historical background on the evolution of the law in these areas will be explored, the focus will be on current issues and future prospects for development of the law and policy. In addition, the course will include a comparative perspective by briefly examining legal structures for democratic participation in other countries. Fundamentally, we will be exploring the question of what constitutional and statutory rules best guarantee a meaningfully democratic political process.


http://www.law.unc.edu/academics/course ... px?cid=100

And this:

(1st year)


Constitutional Law

Course Number: Law 234A
Hours: 5
Course Type: First-Year
Writing Requirement: None
Final Exam?: Yes
Description:
Constitutional Law focuses on judicial review of constitutional issues, the allocation of power between the state and federal governments, and the separate branches of the federal government. Limitations upon government imposed by specific prohibitions, such as the Fourteenth Amendment are also addressed.
Instructor(s): M. Gerhardt, E. Muller, G. Nichol, P. Pucillo (Visitor)
Semester(s): Spring

It seems UNC only studies the law they don't abide by it.

POLI 410 [155] The Constitution of the United States (3). A study of the fundamental principles of constitutional interpretation and practice in the United States by means of lectures, textbooks, and cases. Emphasis will be on the political context surrounding and the impact following Supreme Court decisions.

POLI 422 Constitutional Freedoms in the United States (3). A historical and analytic examination of the fundamental freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights, including speech, press, and religion.

http://www.unc.edu/ugradbulletin/depts/poli.html

Interestingly, try to do a find for the word "republic" on that page. You won't find it. Democracy, diversity, race, gender, multiculturalism, and the usual suspects however...

Also, the POLI 422 course above does not appear to have been taught in the last year...at least according to UNC's search engine of available courses. POLI 410 looks like it was taught in Spring and will be in Fall - thirty chairs available per class, so this class is teaching at most sixty people in one year out of however many undergrads there are.

There is also an ISI report on Civic Literacy in Higher Education which mentions UNC. They are below average in scores of civic literacy and knowledge of American history.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2006/rankings.html

Originally Posted by apropos

There is also an ISI report on Civic Literacy in Higher Education which mentions UNC. They are below average in scores of civic literacy and knowledge of American history.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2006/rankings.html

Thanks for posting this Apropos. I will have to read it in full later as I'm heading out to an event at the kids' school, but I found just the beginning of the introduction to be very interesting:


Today's college students, our nation's future leaders, must understand their nation's history and founding principles if they are to be informed and engaged citizens. They need to understand not only the fundamental institutions and ideals that defined the American founding, but also the more than two centuries of debate and struggle through which Americans have worked out their unique identity as a people. In addition, in this post-9/11 era, it is increasingly necessary that students understand America's relationship to the rest of the world.

The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education's Failure to Teach America's History and Institutions presents scientific evidence that, for the very first time, reveals how much American colleges and universities—including some of our most elite schools—add to, or subtract from, their graduates' understanding of America's history and fundamental institutions. Commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), the present study represents the culmination of a multiyear research process involving a team of professors experienced in the classroom, ISI's National Civic Literacy Board, and the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy.