Samuel Moyn
Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History
Samuel Moyn is the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University, where he also heads Grace Hopper College. Trained as a modern European intellectual historian, he is one of the most prominent critics of the conventional narrative of human rights history. His book The Last Utopia reshaped scholarly debate about the origins of the human rights movement. Before joining Yale, he was a professor at Columbia University for thirteen years and at Harvard University for three years.
Teaching Style
Professor Moyn brings a historian's depth and a legal scholar's rigor to his seminar-style classes. He challenges students to think critically about the origins and limits of legal concepts that are often taken for granted, such as human rights. He uses cold calls to probe students' assumptions and encourages debate over conventional narratives. Expect heavy reading loads and intensive engagement with both primary historical texts and contemporary legal arguments.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Understand the historical development of human rights law -- Moyn is known for challenging the standard narrative
- 2Be prepared to engage with intellectual history and trace how ideas evolved into legal doctrines
- 3Read his books to understand his critical perspective on human rights as a relatively recent political phenomenon
- 4Come ready to discuss the relationship between international humanitarian law and the laws of war
Areas of Expertise
Education
- A.B., Washington University in St. Louis (History and French Literature)
- Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley (Modern European History)
- J.D., Harvard Law School
Notable Publications
- The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
- Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War
- Liberalism against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times
Research Interests
More Professors at Yale Law School
Constitutional Law, Constitutional History, Criminal Procedure
International Law, Human Rights, National Security Law, Transnational Litigation
Constitutional Law, Election Law, Federalism
Legislation and Statutory Interpretation, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Policing and Public Policy
Contracts, Legal Ethics, Distributive Justice