AMST 395 or HIST 359 (No Prerequisite)

As common law systems, the American and English legal systems share distinctive features and a complex history that explain much of how they both operate today. This class approaches the history of the Anglo-American legal tradition as a subject of historical study and as a key to understanding the common law legal system. Studying in London, students will enmesh themselves in the history, politics, and law that gave rise to the often similar (and sometimes divergent) practices in contemporary common law nations. The London location provides superlative opportunities to enrich and intertwine the study of history and law, and the class will visit the political sites integral to development of the English judiciary, courts from medieval and contemporary periods, medieval legal archives, and the Inns of Court where English attorneys finish their training. Readings and lectures will flesh out the distinctive features of the common law system—most notably the use of precedent, juries, and a distinctive method of reasoning—that arose in the context of these historical sites and continues to develop today.