Law & Humanities Blog |
- A New Book Series: Law, Knowledge, and Imagination
- Rape, Law, and Art
- American Society for Legal History Announces Paul Murphy Prize
| A New Book Series: Law, Knowledge, and Imagination Posted: 26 Mar 2012 03:22 PM PDT Dean Ken Randall and the School of Law at The University of Alabama are pleased to announce a new book series – Law, Knowledge, and Imagination – edited by Austin Sarat, the Justice Hugo L. Black Visiting Senior Faculty Scholar and the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. Books in the series, some of which are published by Cambridge University Press and others by The University ofAlabama Press, explore the ways law is known and imagined in a diverse array of disciplines, including political science, history, cultural studies, philosophy, and science. The series examines the conjunctions of law, knowledge, and imagination as they play out in debates about theory and policy and speak to venerable questions as well as contemporary issues. Books published so far include: § Dissenting Voices in American Society: The Role of Judges, Lawyers, and Citizens § Imagining Legality: Where Law Meets Popular Culture § Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities § Sovereignty, Emergency, Legality § Speech and Silence in American Law § Transitions: Legal Change, Legal Meanings For more information on the entire series please see the Symposium Archives page here.   |
| Posted: 26 Mar 2012 10:07 AM PDT Yxta Maya Murray, Loyola Law School Los Angeles, has published Rape Trauma, the State, and the Art of Tracey Emin in volume 100 of the California Law Review (2012). |
Here is the abstract.
Prosecutors use "rape trauma syndrome" evidence at rape trials to explain victims' "counterintuitive" behaviors and demeanors, such as their late reporting, rape denials, returning to the scenes of their attacks, and lack of emotional affect. Courts and experts, in instructions and testimony, usually describe victim reticence as a product of "shame" or "trauma." Feminist critics of R.T.S. evidence posit that the syndrome's profile is based on incomplete evidence, because most rapes are unreported. Furthermore, they object to its condescending, sexist, and colonial construction of rape victims and their emotions.
In this Article, I respond to feminist critics by studying the work of Tracey Emin. Emin is a British-Turkish artist who suffered an unreported rape at the age of 13, and who has been commenting on that rape through her art ever since. Expanding and innovating upon the work of law and humanities scholars, I apply the insights found in art – or, what I describe as "artifacts," with a deliberate play on the word – to rape law. Through my study of the facts limned in art, I show how the complexities of Emin's reactions to rape challenge the too-streamlined and often confusing stories of victims told by prosecutors, experts, and courts. Emin's art demonstrates that she harbors suspicions of the state, a skepticism based in part on her failure to correspond to "real rape" victim stereotypes. Her critique adds much needed insight into problems of the R.T.S. model. Based on the lessons learned, I make suggestions for rape law reform, and for changes to be made to the administration of rape prosecutions in the U.S. and U.K.Download the Article from SSRN at the link.
American Society for Legal History Announces Paul Murphy Prize
Posted: 26 Mar 2012 09:42 AM PDT
The American Society for Legal History announces the Paul Murphy Prize to support the completion of a book on the history of civil liberties that addresses any topic or any time in American history. The award will be given out two times only, in 2012 and 2013. Recipients will receive $5000 to support their work. Nominees at all levels of seniority will be considered, however the award is not for the completion of a dissertation.
The award honors Paul L. Murphy (1923-1997), who spent much of his career at the University of Minnesota where he rose to the rank of Regent's Professor of History and American Studies. At the time of his death, he was in the second year of his term as president of the ASLH. During his tenure at Minnesota he became one of the nation's leading constitutional historians and a mentor to generations of undergraduate and graduate students. Among his most important books were: The Meaning of Freedom of Speech: First Amendment Freedoms from Wilson to FDR (1972); World War I and the Origin of Civil Liberties in the United States (1979); Historic Background of the Bill of Rights, Vol. 1 (1990); and The Shaping of the First Amendment: 1791 to the Present (1991). In addition, civil liberties played a fundamental role in the argument he developed in what was likely his most influential book, The Constitution in Crisis Times 1918-1969 (The New American Nation Series, 1972). Murphy's commitment to civil liberties and his passion for the subject was evident in his deeds as well as his words. He was an ardent and committed member of the American Civil Liberties Union throughout his life. For additional information on Murphy please see the tribute to him in the Law and History Review, 16 (Spring 1998), ix-xi.
To be considered for this award, authors or nominators should send a book proposal with chapter descriptions, a discussion of the book's contributions, and a time-line for completion; a sample chapter; and a c.v. to committee chair Mary L. Dudziak at
Submissions via e-mail are preferred, and attachments can be in Word or PDF. Please put "Murphy Prize" in the subject line. If you must submit by hardcopy, please send four copies of these materials to arrive by the deadline to this address: Professor Mary L. Dudziak, USC Gould School of Law, 699 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90089. The deadline for receipt of proposals for this year's award is June 30, 2012.
Members of the Murphy Prize Committee are:
Mary L. Dudziak, Chair, University of Southern California
Robert Kaczorowski, Fordham University
Serena Mayeri, University of Pennsylvania
David M. Rabban, University of Texas
The award honors Paul L. Murphy (1923-1997), who spent much of his career at the University of Minnesota where he rose to the rank of Regent's Professor of History and American Studies. At the time of his death, he was in the second year of his term as president of the ASLH. During his tenure at Minnesota he became one of the nation's leading constitutional historians and a mentor to generations of undergraduate and graduate students. Among his most important books were: The Meaning of Freedom of Speech: First Amendment Freedoms from Wilson to FDR (1972); World War I and the Origin of Civil Liberties in the United States (1979); Historic Background of the Bill of Rights, Vol. 1 (1990); and The Shaping of the First Amendment: 1791 to the Present (1991). In addition, civil liberties played a fundamental role in the argument he developed in what was likely his most influential book, The Constitution in Crisis Times 1918-1969 (The New American Nation Series, 1972). Murphy's commitment to civil liberties and his passion for the subject was evident in his deeds as well as his words. He was an ardent and committed member of the American Civil Liberties Union throughout his life. For additional information on Murphy please see the tribute to him in the Law and History Review, 16 (Spring 1998), ix-xi.
To be considered for this award, authors or nominators should send a book proposal with chapter descriptions, a discussion of the book's contributions, and a time-line for completion; a sample chapter; and a c.v. to committee chair Mary L. Dudziak at
Submissions via e-mail are preferred, and attachments can be in Word or PDF. Please put "Murphy Prize" in the subject line. If you must submit by hardcopy, please send four copies of these materials to arrive by the deadline to this address: Professor Mary L. Dudziak, USC Gould School of Law, 699 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90089. The deadline for receipt of proposals for this year's award is June 30, 2012.
Members of the Murphy Prize Committee are:
Mary L. Dudziak, Chair, University of Southern California
Robert Kaczorowski, Fordham University
Serena Mayeri, University of Pennsylvania
David M. Rabban, University of Texas
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