Austin Sarat
Austin Sarat is interested broadly in the cultural and social life of American law. He is currently pursuing several lines of research, among are the American values and beliefs revealed by state killings. Sarat uses the death penalty as a lens through which to view ideas about responsibility and blame, pain and its proper uses, race and fairness, mercy and the possibilities of redemption. Sarat recently completed a book-length study of the decline of executive clemency in capital cases and a study of race and capital punishment in the United States.
Sarat's research also focuses on the cultural life of law or law in popular culture. He is now writing a book entitled Hollywood’s Law: What Movies Do for Democracy. This book examines movies about law from 1950 to 2000 in order to understand how these films contribute to the development of democratic citizenship.
At Amherst College, Sarat teaches an introduction to Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought and a first-year Seminar, Secrets and Lies, and a class about murder.
POPULAR
Greta Thunberg on climate promises versus actions
Thunberg sat down in her Stockholm kitchen to talk about what she expects—and hopes—will come from the global event.
The persecution of Steven Donziger
“Why am I the one being locked up? I helped hold [Chevron] accountable.”
Toxic Clichés
Our students will be facing challenges beyond what we can begin to imagine, if these past few years are any indication, crises that require far-ranging intelligence, imagination, sensitivity.
6 ways restaurants can reduce their environmental impact
The restaurant industry struggles to meet consumers’ sustainability standards because of conventional management patterns.
Taking aim at predatory equity firms, Warren leads bill to ‘stop Wall Street looting’
"Private equity firms get rich off of stripping assets from companies, loading them up with a bunch of debt, and then leaving workers, consumers, and whole communities in the dust."