Berkman Winter Camp
HLS's Winter Term and Berkman Winter Camp begins today.
Prof. Charles Nesson will teach Evidence each morning. He describes the class, writing "I am about to start a class on Evidence dealing with truth, process, and the power of narrative. I am using an edited version of the trial transcript of the rape prosecution of Siccaturie Alcock, a.k.a. Jah Cure, whose music and story is presently a focal point of controversy in Jamaica. I have edited the transcript to change names and eliminate banalities. I will use the transcript not only as assigned reading for my students but also as a script for a recorded reading, which will make the facts of the case accessible by podcast, download, and radio. The class meets January 3-20, 2006 each week day 9 a.m.-noon. I plan to start my class with a discussion of truth, the power of narrative, and the reasons for having trials, using a video about the Nuremberg Trial as a stimulus piece. On Thursday, Jan 5, we reach the concept of sufficiency of evidence to warrant a conclusion, using the Alcock case as a frame for discussion. Later in the course I follow with a lesson about point of view and the sensitivity of evidence to context, using video from the Rodney King case as stimulus. "
Prof. Jonathan Zittrain will teach Internet Law in the afternoon. The course will examine the current legal, political, and technical struggles for control/ownership of the global Internet and its content. Course themes include the interaction between emerging Internet self-governance regimes and rule by traditional sovereigns; the expression of conflicting interests of commercial and individual Internet speakers/broadcasters; new modes of control over widely distributed intellectual property; and the potential for market giants and other architects of Internet technologies to constrain behavior online in ways governments find difficult to assimilate.
If you're interested in joining in, Prof. Nesson will be blogging Zittrain's course. In addition to teaching these courses both Nesson and Zittrain will co-host events in the evenings for all interested students. Tonight: Nesson and Zittrain will host a discussion about wikis/blogs at 6pm tonight in Langdell South; Wednesday night: Lawrence Lessig, John Wilbanks, Eric Saltzman will visit with students and discuss Creative Commons, Science Commons, and the Open Access Pledge (7:30pm, location TBD); Thursday night: Brendan Greeley will talk about wiki-ing, podcasting and aggregating (8pm, location TBD); and Saturday night Nesson and Zittrain will show The Harder They Come, followed by talk with Colin Channer and Wayne Marshall.