LAWS 2185 Religion Clause Controversies: Past, Present, and Future

Law and religion are fundamental organizing principles across societies, while work is a basic human activity that operates as our chief claim on status and resources. In a multicultural society based on liberal principles, how employers, the law, and society handle religion in the workplace has become a fundamental and ongoing problem. In this comparative seminar, we will investigate how U.S. law tries to accommodate religious belief and practice in the workplace; problems employers face in accommodation claims; the impact of the law on religious minorities, among other issues. Our investigation will include an examination of how European Union law and German law approach such questions. This provides an opportunity to deepen knowledge of U.S. law by studying it in contrast, while providing students an orientation to how two key foreign systems approach like issues. The seminar will include presentations and discussion by leading European scholars. Students will be expected to develop and complete a substantial writing project on a topic of their choosing in the field of law and religion.