These materials are a compilation of ones that I have developed and used in over 30 years of teaching the first year required course in Constitutional Law. With one exception, these materials will be open access. That exception is that the videos I have created for this course will be accessible only to my students at the University of Denver.

Many thanks for help of my research assistants, Nina Christensen and Charlotte Rhoad, in the early stages of this project.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of the material in the book, please feel free to reach out to me at achen@law.du.edu. Similarly, if you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know. Thanks!

Denver Law students should go to the course Canvas page to view this under the Course Videos Module.

In this class, we will cover topics that may be challenging for you. Our topics will include those that are divisive, politically and socially.

My goal for this class is not to shy away from those topics, but for us to learn about these topics, and to learn how to have productive conversations about challenging topics.

To this end, I have provided a set of expectations and ground rules that will help with this project. (See Building a Productive Learning Community.)

Additionally, I want to provide some strategies that might help us individually as we struggle with some of the concepts we discuss. As with the expectations/ground rules, these strategies are a work in progress. So please feel free to comment or suggest revisions or additions.

• Discussing to Learn: Contribute ideas and views in the spirit of inquiring and learning together, rather than trying to debate or win arguments (unless the activity is designed as a debate or to assess best arguments).

• Listening Lenience: Remember that we are learning together and may not necessarily get something right the first or even second try. Practice being lenient with oneself and with others. Restating what someone just said can provide them an opportunity to clarify or revise their statement. Similarly, it is good practice to state when you say something not quite right and then try to state it again or ask for help in saying it.

• Seek Clarification: Seek clarification when you are confused or have doubts, and also before you pass judgment on what another is saying. Practice statements such as “Are you saying that…?” or “What I hear you saying is…” or “If I understand you correctly….” (Give the other person a chance to respond.)

• Read Critically: If something you are reading is not sitting right with you, think about why that might be. Reading critically is important even (or especially when) if you are reading something that resonates with you or that you already agree with. So it is always worth keeping these questions in mind as you read. But reading critically is a particularly important strategy when you are confronted with challenging texts.

• Emotional Awareness: Recognize that emotions are part of learning, and everyone can get emotionally worked up at any time. Remember that feelings are real and common yet are often temporal. Feelings also tend to be reactive and shaped by past experiences or other factors not necessarily present in the moment – this means reflecting more deeply about one’s own feelings and why they might be arising, and being compassionate about what may be happening for others who express strong emotions. Feelings are also not inferences, meaning that one’s feeling about something is a feeling, not an attribute about something else (e.g. feeling discomfort does not mean another person is trying to make me feel uncomfortable; or, feeling another person’s anger does not mean they are angry at me).

• A Part is Not the Whole: Remember that your view or experience is your view or experience, a partial opening onto the whole, and not necessarily a general view or experience of everyone; nor are the views or experiences of others necessarily going to match your own. And, just as you cannot represent an entire group of people, nor can anyone else represent a group of people. It is quite okay for everyone to speak their truth and their experience, but working from individual views and experiences to more general ideas or conclusions often requires considerable work.

• Complex Issues are Not Simple: There are no easy answers or simple solutions for complex issues. The goal is not for one view to prevail over others or to arrive at consensus but to find ways to inquire and work together to advance inquiry and understanding.

• Acknowledge Offense: If you feel offended or sense others may be offended, speak up and acknowledge that you feel offended or sense that others might be. Agree as a group to pause so that everyone can consider their own feelings and consider what may or may not have been intended by a particular comment or moment.

Also, if you are feeling challenged by a discussion or topic, please feel free to talk with me about it, privately. I will do my best to help you work through it in a way that enhances your learning experience.

One of my goals for this course is to create a productive learning community. As part of this, it is my hope that we can all learn together, through discussion and interaction, exploring and testing our knowledge and ideas with our colleagues. For this to work well, it is important to have a set of expectations – or ground rules – for our discussions.

These may (and likely will) evolve over time. I welcome your feedback and ideas on them, as this is largely a collaborative endeavor.

Here is my starting list of expectations/ground rules:

• Our primary commitment is to learn from each other, our course material, and our work. We will listen to each other and not talk at each other. We acknowledge differences amongst us in backgrounds, skills, interests, and values. We realize that it is these very differences that will increase our awareness and understanding through this process.

• Respect others’ rights to hold opinions and beliefs that differ from your own. Be open to hearing their perspectives. Be open to changing your perspectives based on what you learn from others. Be okay with disagreement.

• Avoid disrespect. We can, of course, disagree. But avoid disagreeing in a way that conveys any sense of disrespect. Note that disrespect can often be conveyed either verbally or through body language and non-verbal cues (e.g., eye-rolling). Think about the message you are conveying, both verbally and non-verbally.

• No put downs. We will not demean, devalue, or “put down” people for their experiences, lack of experiences, or difference in interpretation of those experiences.

• Assume good faith. We will trust that people are always doing the best they can, and that they do not intend to offend. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Try to avoid making assumptions about others’ motivations.

• Challenge the idea and not the person. If we wish to challenge something that has been said, we will challenge the idea or the practice referred to, not the individual sharing this idea or practice.

• Be mindful of context. Consider who gets left out, who is marginalized, under-represented, or erased by particular claims. So, for example, we could say, “That’s an image of an ideal family,” or we could say, “That may be an image of an ideal family for many middle-class, white, heterosexual people.”

• Interrogate generalizations about people. Generalizations are often part of law and policy, and can have powerful effects. One of our learning objectives in this class is to learn to think critically about generalizations, including about when they are warranted and when they cause harm. Be thoughtful about generalizations in your own thinking and speaking.

• Be careful about putting other students on the spot. Do not expect any of your classmates to speak for a group that you perceive them to represent.

• Listen carefully to what others are saying even when you disagree with what is being said. Comments that we make (asking for clarification, sharing critiques, expanding on a point, etc.) should reflect that we have paid attention to the speaker’s comments.

• Be courteous. Don’t interrupt – even when you are excited to respond. Don’t engage in private conversations while others are speaking.

• Support your statements. Use evidence and provide a rationale for your points. Examples include data, clear reasoning, or reference to a text. Be honest when you are not sure if you have enough evidence to make a strong argument or when your thoughts about a topic are still speculative or exploratory. (Also, recognize that anecdotes, including from your own life, are important, but that they do not necessarily suggest a pattern or rule.)

• Embrace (and name) emotions. It is okay to be emotional about issues and to name those emotions.

• Avoid perfectionism. The goal of classroom discussion is to explore and “try out” ideas and arguments. Do not wait until your ideas are perfectly developed before jumping in. It is okay to think out loud, and revise or clarify your ideas in response to other’s ideas and arguments.

• Share responsibility for including all voices in the discussion. If you have much to say, try to hold back a bit; if you are hesitant to speak, look for opportunities to contribute to the discussion.

• Speak your discomfort. If something is bothering you, please share this with the group. Often our emotional reactions to this process offer the most valuable learning opportunities. Similarly, if you are offended by something or think someone else might be, speak up and don’t leave it for someone else to have to respond to it. One strategy for dealing with uncertainty discomfort is to ask a question.

• Seek clarification. If your discomfort is with something another person has said, a good starting point might be to seek clarification, such as “Are you saying that…?” or “What I hear you saying is…” or “If I understand you correctly….” (Give the other person a chance to respond.)

• Confidentiality. We want to create an atmosphere for open, honest exchange. Keep confidential any personal information that comes up in class. Ask permission from classmates before sharing their ideas or comments outside of class.

• Recognize that we are all still learning. Be willing to change your perspective, and make space for others to do the same.

If you have thoughts on these expectations/ground rules, or believe that this list has omitted anything important, let me know. This is a work in progress.