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International Legal Studies
Comparative Law: Foundations of Western Legal Thought
M,T 1:15-2:45 Block E

Professor Mary Ann Glendon
3 classroom credits 32640-11 Fall

This course explores the ways in which civil law (Romano-Germanic) and common law (Anglo-American) systems were influenced at crucial stages of their development by different branches of political and philosophical thought. The emphasis will be on the civil law systems. Multilithed materials and several books to be announced. Course requirements include weekly memos, two papers and an oral presentation. Enrollment limited to 22 students.


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punitive damages) both in law and in practice in Germany, England and other principal European and East Asian jurisdictions on the one hand and in federal and state courts of the United States on the other. Topics will include the process of harmonization among the European jurisdictions and possible convergence between American and Continental civil justice systems. The seminar will also discuss such phenomena as the Woburn toxic waste case portrayed in A Civil Action and the "Holocaust cases" in Europe and the United States.