How a Georgetown Law Professor Stays Current with Constitutional Scholarship Through a Unique Seminar

Each fall, I teach a seminar called Recent Books on the Constitution. I initially designed this course in 2005 while visiting Georgetown. At the time, I focused my reading on projects directly relevant to my work and felt disconnected from broader constitutional scholarship. To address this gap, I assigned recent books on the Constitution as required reading for my students—and for myself. This approach has proven highly effective; I’ve now read extensively on constitutional law.

The complete list of all books I’ve assigned since 2005 is provided below. Over the past two decades, I’ve assigned 105 books by 96 authors. Several scholars have contributed multiple works to the seminar, including James Fleming, Sandy Levinson, Gerard Magliocca, Eric Segall, Dan Farber, Jonathan Gienapp, Philip Hamburger, Kim Roosevelt, and David Bernstein.

In addition to these published works, I’ve assigned four books in manuscript form before their release. For the fall 2026 semester, I’ve selected the following five titles:

• Eric Claeys, Natural Property Rights (2025)
• Paul DeHart, Uncovering the Constitution's Moral Design (2017)
• Richard Primus, The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power (2025)
• Louis Michael Seidman, The Constitution Cannot Save Us: Why We Can No Longer Rely on Our Founding Document (2026)
• Sarah Isgur, Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court (2026)

My selection process prioritizes books I believe I should read, whether due to their subject matter or the author’s reputation. I refrain from reading these books myself until the semester begins, allowing me to engage with the material alongside my students. This method enables me to react to the books in real time and retain nuances for classroom discussion.

The seminar’s structure is straightforward: students read six books, dedicating two weeks to each. During the second week of each unit, the book’s author visits the class to discuss their work. The first book of the semester is always one of my own, serving as a trial run and setting the context for subsequent discussions.

For longer books exceeding 250 pages, I request that authors specify which 250 pages should be assigned. To ensure students engage deeply with the material, I limit weekly reading to no more than 125 pages. Students submit one-page summaries of each half of the book, graded on a pass-fail basis. On the day before the author’s visit, they submit a 5,500-character critique of the book, which I forward to the author electronically. (Students consistently review these critiques.)

The course concludes without exams or research papers. Students consistently report that the seminar is highly enriching and significantly enhances their critical thinking skills. They are never required to read entire books cover to cover, nor are they assigned extensive written work beyond the summaries and critiques.