[EL] Ideas for the first day of class

[John Tanner]

I start off the first day having the students complete a voter registration postcard and then go through the lengthy 1964 Alabama voter registration application item by item, discussing why the state may have included each item, and finishing with the US constitution interpretation questions on the Alabama application.  It’s an eye-opener of the students and generates a lot of discussion  

> On Jan 4, 2016, at 2:05 PM, Hersh, Eitan <eitan.hersh at yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hi Joey –
>  
> Not sure if this is helpful, but here at Yale, I teach an undergrad class on election law and campaigns. I start the semester with:
>  
> 1.) U.S. Constitution. I 1-4, II 1, IV, 3, V
> Amendments 1, 12, 14-15, 17, 19, 22-23, 26
> 2.) Federalist 10
> 3.)  Nathaniel Persily, “The Place of Competition in American Election Law, in the Marketplace of Democracy,”
>  
> It’s a great first week because a.) going through the Constitution basically gives a foreshadowing of the course and b.) it’s useful for the students to see how very much of the Constitution is concerned with elections and campaigns.
>  
> (I’m replying all because I’d like to see other responses to your query as well.)
>  
> Eitan
>  
>  
> Eitan D. Hersh
> Assistant Professor of Political Science
> Yale University
>  
> Phone: 203.436.9061
> Office: 77 Prospect Street, C120
> Web: www.eitanhersh.com <http://www.eitanhersh.com/>
>  
>  
>  
> From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Joey Fishkin
> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2016 1:49 PM
> To: law-election at uci.edu
> Subject: [EL] Ideas for the first day of class
>  
> Happy new year to all.  
>  
> With the semester starting in a couple of weeks, I’m unsatisfied with the first day of my election law syllabus.  I’d thought I’d see if you all had some ideas.
>  
> I typically do a one-off topic the first day, then start in with the first real unit of the syllabus (suffrage restrictions & access to the ballot) on day two.  On the first day, I want students to —
> — learn some election law, and play with concepts that will show up again in the class
> — be engaged, especially if still shopping the class
> — be able to participate reasonably well in the conversation even if they haven’t done the reading (e.g. because still shopping)
>  
> Any ideas?  Do you have a way of starting the semester that you love and want to share?
>  
> Thanks,
> Joey
>  
> Joseph Fishkin
> Professor of Law
> University of Texas School of Law
> 727 E. Dean Keeton St.
> Austin, TX 78705
> jfishkin at law.utexas.edu <mailto:jfishkin at law.utexas.edu>
>  
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