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Unit of study_

LAWS5196: United States Constitutional Law

2024 unit information

The United States Constitution and the United States Supreme Court exert significant influence on constitutionalism globally. This unit provides an in-depth introduction to the principles, core concepts, key cases, and current developments in US Constitutional Law. It traces the structure and role of the US Supreme Court, and the development of US constitutional reasoning from the post-revolutionary period to the present. It considers debates about constitutional interpretation, and the significance of different approaches to key provisions of the Constitution. Topics may include all or any of: judicial review; legislative power; substantive due process; the commerce clause; freedom of speech, race and the Constitution; sex equality; reproductive rights; presidential power.. Students will also be introduced to, and encouraged to engage in, normative debates about constitutional values.

Unit details and rules

Managing faculty or University school:

Sydney Law School

Study level Postgraduate
Academic unit Law
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
? 
LAWS5011
Corequisites:
? 
None
Prohibitions:
? 
LAWS3496
Assumed knowledge:
? 
None

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. Critically analyse the U.S. Constitution, its principles, the various approaches to its interpretation.
  • LO2. Critically evaluate key concepts, theoretical resources, and significant cases in U.S. constitutional law.
  • LO3. Engage with and articulate normative debates about constitutional values.
  • LO4. Apply relevant legal research skills to construct logical, well-structured legal analyses on topics in U.S. constitutional law and communicate these to diverse audiences.

Unit availability

This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.

The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.

Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2024
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney
Session MoA ?  Location Outline ? 
Semester 1 2022
Normal day Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

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Modes of attendance (MoA)

This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.