PSC 421 - Law and Society - Theory and Application
Law is traditionally studied vocationally. That is, students of the law often learn about it strategically, in order to eventually write legislation, advocate for a client, or decide cases. In this, students will be introduced to a different way of studying law, one rooted in the interdisciplinary field of legal studies (sometimes known as “law and society”) that draws on knowledge, methodologies, and critical theories from several disciplines. Rather than studying law as an enterprise that operates autonomously, this course introduces students to the study of law as an object that cannot be understood apart from the social, political, and cultural contexts in which it exists, to include race and ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and nationality. With these goals in mind, this course will explore how law permeates human life and, conversely, how human life permeates law.
The course has units which explore the following questions: What is law? How do judges make decisions? What is law’s relationship to society? How are laws enforced? Can law change society? How is law represented in popular culture?
The course has units which explore the following questions: What is law? How do judges make decisions? What is law’s relationship to society? How are laws enforced? Can law change society? How is law represented in popular culture?