Constitutions (CON)
(3 credits)
Students must complete one course that teaches the constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Courses which meet this requirement will:
- Require students to study the Constitutions of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and of the United States.
- Consider the historical context, addressing
- antecedents in English law
- the idea of written fundamental law
- the context of colonial history
- failed predecessors (e.g., the 1778 constitutions and the Articles of Confederation)
- mechanism of drafting, ratification, and amendment
- influence of the Massachusetts Constitution on the U.S. Constitution.
- Consider political thought in contemporary society, addressing
- how each constitution shapes modern life
- differing interpretations, including by the courts
- current issues related to each constitution
- basic national, state and/or local political processes, and the rights and obligations of citizenship.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HI-111 | US History to 1877 | 3 |
| HI-112 | US History 1865 to the Present | 3 |
| HI-140 | We the People: Writing the Constitution (writing Ii) | 3 |
| HI-218 | US Constitutional History I | 3 |
| HI-219 | US Constitutional History II | 3 |
| HI-268 | American Revolutionary Period | 3 |
| HI-320 | Citizen Nation | 3 |
| PH-151 | Race, Gender, and the Law | 3 |
| PH-231 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
| PH-335 | Animal Law & Policy | 3 |
| PO-110 | American Government | 3 |
| PO-150 | Foundations of Legal Studies | 3 |
| PO-217 | The U.S. Congress | 3 |
| PO-318 | Constitutional Law of Government Powers And Constraints | 3 |
| PO-319 | Constitutional Law of Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| PO-320 | Citizen Nation | 3 |
| PO-380 | American Foreign Policy Since the Cold War | 3 |