Location
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento campus, Classroom E
Start Date
21-4-2016 2:30 PM
End Date
21-4-2016 3:30 PM
Description
The sixth and final UTOPIA500 presentation was April 21, 2016. Professor Susan Herman, Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and President of the American Civil Liberties Union, received the official "Me and Tommy More" polo shirt from Dr. Michael P. Malloy, organizer of the UTOPIA500 project. Professor Herman delivered a presentation on Constitutional Utopianism. She explored the literary devices that More employed as narrative strategies in Utopia, and argued that his intention may have been to give focus to discussion about important issues of governance and societal structures, rather than to provide definitive answers. Professor Herman also compared the implicit social values evident in Utopian society and in American society, each governed by its own constitution. She suggested that Utopians seemed to prize radical equality over personal liberty, while the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted to favor liberty over equality. Her insights prompted a lively discussion with the Law and Literature seminar students.
Constitutional Utopianism: An Exercise in Law and Literature
Constitutional Utopianism
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento campus, Classroom E
The sixth and final UTOPIA500 presentation was April 21, 2016. Professor Susan Herman, Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and President of the American Civil Liberties Union, received the official "Me and Tommy More" polo shirt from Dr. Michael P. Malloy, organizer of the UTOPIA500 project. Professor Herman delivered a presentation on Constitutional Utopianism. She explored the literary devices that More employed as narrative strategies in Utopia, and argued that his intention may have been to give focus to discussion about important issues of governance and societal structures, rather than to provide definitive answers. Professor Herman also compared the implicit social values evident in Utopian society and in American society, each governed by its own constitution. She suggested that Utopians seemed to prize radical equality over personal liberty, while the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted to favor liberty over equality. Her insights prompted a lively discussion with the Law and Literature seminar students.
