Noah Feldman
Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor
Noah Feldman is the Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor at Harvard, holding appointments at both Harvard Law School and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. A Rhodes Scholar with expertise spanning constitutional law, Islamic thought, and comparative legal systems, he served as senior constitutional adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in 2003. He is the author of 10 books and conceived and designed the Facebook Oversight Board. He clerked for Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Teaching Style
Professor Feldman is known for his intellectually stimulating and wide-ranging Socratic method. He cold-calls students and weaves together constitutional doctrine, comparative perspectives, and historical context. His classes are fast-paced and expect students to engage with big-picture theoretical questions alongside granular doctrinal analysis. He draws on his experience as a constitutional adviser in Iraq to ground abstract principles in real-world constitutional design challenges.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Be prepared to discuss constitutional principles in comparative and international perspective
- 2Understand the relationship between religious law and secular constitutional frameworks
- 3Know the doctrinal details of assigned cases but also be ready for broad theoretical questions about constitutional design
- 4Follow Feldman's Bloomberg Opinion columns for insight into how he approaches current constitutional controversies
Areas of Expertise
Education
- A.B., Harvard University (summa cum laude, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations)
- D.Phil., University of Oxford (Islamic Thought, Rhodes Scholar)
- J.D., Yale Law School
Notable Publications
- Constitutional Law (casebook, 21st edition)
- First Amendment Law (casebook)
- The Three Lives of James Madison
Research Interests
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