UG-LAW 173Topics in American Constitutional History
Law, Undergraduate · 4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Introduction to major themes, events, and cases in American constitutional history. U.S. Supreme Court decisions and other sources of constitutional meaning, including popular movements and expressions of constitutional principle from actors in other branches of federal government and in states. Emphasis on historical background and ideological context for particular constitutional controversies at various points in American history, with more formal analysis of particular decisions and competing methods of constitutional interpretation considered. Topics include origins of judicial review, debates over meaning of federalism in early republic, slavery and constitution, Reconstruction Amendments, laissez-faire constitutionalism, citizenship and empire, origins of civil liberties, New Deal constitutionalism, and prehistory of Brown versus Board of Education.
P/NP or letter grading.
When it runs
Not on the schedule for any of Fall 2025 through Spring 2027. UCLA publishes only that window, so this does not mean the course is gone — check the official listing.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.