Courses Offered in Venice
Venice 2013 Courses
Comparative Health Care Law, taught by Professor Mark A. Hall:
This course will compare the basic structure of health care delivery and finance in the U.S., including the recent Affordable Care Act, with the major models from European systems. The course will also explore how European civil law countries differ on basic areas of medical law doctrine, such as malpractice, informed consent, organ donations, and “the right to die.” We will hear from European guest speakers and visit a hospital that dates from the 15th century. Grades will be based primarily on an exam administered after return to the U.S., which likely will be multiple choice and short answer.
Law, Literature, and Culture (Examples from Italy, and some detours), taught by Dean Richard Schneider:
The study of legal themes in great literature has been a significant complement to more traditional classwork in law schools. Students learn to approach traditional problems in non-traditional ways, leading often to better outcomes. So, how about reading a bit of Dante in the city where he became fatally sick, asking why he was so obsessed by punishment, and then visiting his tomb in Ravenna? How about reading why a famous writer named Gustav came to Venice, stayed, and died when he could have left? How about examining Italo Calvino’s Baron in the Trees to ask how and why literature can affect law? Finally, how about reading a Donna Leon mystery (or two) and literally following in the footsteps of Commissario Brunetti as he solves Venetian crimes? Law, Literature, and Culture transplanted onto Italian soil will focus on interpretation, analysis, and group discussion of seminal works of literature and how those works can be read in a legal context. The authors we read will include Dante, Cesare Pavese, Leonard Sciascia, Dario Fo, and Donna Leon. We will also spend some sessions discussing Italian cinema instead of books (e.g., The Bicycle Thief, Divorce Italian Style, and The Tree of Wooden Clogs). No prerequisite is required. Grades will be based on participation and a paper to be completed by September 2013.
Non-Wake Forest students should confirm that credit for these courses is accepted in their home law school. Grades for non-Wake Forest students will be only on a Pass/Fail basis (with a “C” being the minimum grade to earn a passing grade.)
