Index#: 07576
Will Count Towards Political Science MAJOR
Will Count Towards Political Science MINOR
This seminar will focus on the life and legal cases of U.S. Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The “Notorious RBG,” as she is known, has been critical to the defense of women’s rights from long before her appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. We will analyze her important contributions to Rutgers’ Law School, where she began her legal career, at the ACLU, where she founded the Women’s Rights Project and in her co-founding of the critically important Women’s Rights Law Reporter. Students will also read about the history and current challenges of gender discrimination in the legal profession. Before her appointment to the Court, Ginsburg argued several important cases before the Court (which the class will read, as well as listening to oral arguments). In both her majority opinions as well as in her dissents, Ginsburg has played a key role in issues such as workplace discrimination, domestic violence and reproductive rights. Each week, students will be responsible for reading one of the U.S. Supreme Court cases she has ruled on. We will integrate into class a visit from the current director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project (Lenora Lapidus) and possibly a class trip to Rutgers Law School. We will also explore questions regarding the cultural significance of RGB, which has fueled an unprecedented “swag” industry, as well as documentary and dramatic films. Students will conclude the seminar with a research paper on an RBG legal case of their choosing.
About Professor Daniels
Professor Daniels has previously taught at Harvard University (Social Studies) and at the University of Hawaii (Women's Studies and Political Science) and at Northeastern University (Political Science). She is the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies, the Bunting Institute Fellowship and the AAUW Dissertation fellowship and the Victoria Schuck Book Award.
Prof. Daniels is the Director of the Informed Consent Project. Many states have passed abortion-related ‘Informed Consent’ laws which require that a woman seeking an abortion receive a state-authored informational packet before her abortion procedure can be performed. The Informed Consent Project evaluates the ‘medical accuracy’ of this information with a focus on information on embryological and fetal development.
Prof. Daniels is currently working on several research projects related to the politics of reproduction in the United States. In her work on sperm and egg banking in the U.S., she examines the 'gender eugenic' underpinnings of the market in human gametes. She explores these issues (with co-author Erin Heidt-Forsythe) in a recent journal article, "Gendered Eugenics and the Problematic of Free Market Reproductive Technologies: Sperm and Egg Donation in the United States", which appears in volume 37, issue 3 of Signs: Journal of Women and Culture in Society.
Other ongoing research projects include an analysis of the gender biases of workplace and environmental health and safety standards and reproductive health advice, and an examination of the politics and implementation of laws relating to 'informed consent' to abortion.