American Constitutional Perspective on Relations Between Religion and Law
School of American Law
Jagiellonian University
AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON RELATIONS BETWEEN RELIGION AND LAW
PROFESSOR JAY WEXLER
Professor of Law at the Boston University
Fullbright Scholar at the Jagiellonian University
Description of the course
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” These two clauses—the “establishment clause” and the “free exercise clause”—have created enormous legal controversy in the United States over the past 100 years. This course will consider how the U.S. Supreme Court and other U.S. courts have struggled to apply these clauses to a wide range of disputes involving issues such as school prayer, religious displays, funding of religious institutions, and religious freedom. We may also consider issues involving religion and politics in the United States, both generally and in connection with specific topics such as bioethics and same-sex marriage. The instructor is open to suggestions from students regarding possible topics of study in the final weeks of the class, including comparative and international perspectives on law and religion. The course is not part of the JU-CUA American Law Program, students receive independent credit for it.
In order to sign up for the course, download the flier (the deadline is 26 February 2008.)