Marital Privilege: Marriage, Inequality, and the Transformation of American Law

Professor Serena Mayeri will deliver a talk on her new book, Marital Privilege: Marriage, Inequality, and the Transformation of American Law. The book examines the history of challenges to marriage’s primacy as a legal institution and a source of public and private benefits.
Professor Mayeri is the Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and, by courtesy appointment, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania Cary Law School. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of History, and is a Core Faculty member in the Program on Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (GSWS). In 2016, Mayeri was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians. In 2019, she received the Robert A. Gorman Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Professor Mayeri also writes about reproductive rights and justice, equality and democracy, and history’s role in constitutional discourse and litigation. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and has co-authored amicus briefs in cases involving abortion rights, employment discrimination, immigration and family law.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by the Political Science Department through the Francis A. Harrington Public Affairs Fund.
