Friday, April 30, 2010

Rakove and Patterson on (Respectively) Judicial Independence and the Idea of Freedom

New on the Gilder Lehrman's website are two downloadable podcasts.

The first is Establishing an Independent Judiciary in the Founding Era, by Jack Rakove, Professor of Political Science and Law at Stanford University. The lecture was originally delivered at Stanford University on August 19, 2008. According to the website, Professor Rakove “discusses the eighteenth century origins of judicial independence. He outlines the progression of judicial power from its English origins, as an extension of royal authority, to its current formulation as an independent and coequal branch of government.”

In the second, The Idea of Freedom in America: Key Moments, which was originally delivered on July 25, 2008, Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, "discusses the way in which the concept of freedom has shifted throughout American history. He talks about traditional public freedoms, like civil liberties, and how they are seen as separate from a highly privatized conception and experience of freedom in everyday life."

The downloads are free, although registration on the Gilder Lehrman’s website (also free) is required.