In this course, you will work on a substantive interest of your choice in public affairs, or community, or government at any level. All sorts of organizations rely on legislative histories.
Courts often rely on legislative history in arbitrating disputes over the meaning of legislation.
Nongovernmental and non-profit organizations use legislative histories in litigation, in advocacy, in regulation, in enforcement. You will do two legislative histories. The second is an actual legislative history in your interest area. Both will follow the guide prepared for this course Doing Federal Legislative History Online and at Bird Library of Syracuse University For both histories, the end product is a 1-2 pp. interpretive document. The audience is our class, who are informed about the genre, legislative history, but uninformed about the substantive area.