Winter 2022 Class Schedule: Center for Legal Studies

Winter 2022 Class Schedule

To read course descriptions, click on the course titles below.
To look up class meeting days and times please go to CAESAR.
Note that courses are subject to change.

Course	Title	Instructor
LEGAL_ST 206-0-20	Law and Society (also SOCIOL 206)	Nicolette Bruner
LEGAL_ST 206-0-20 Law and Society (also SOCIOL 206) Law is everywhere. Law permits, prohibits, enables, legitimates, protects, and prosecutes citizens. Law shapes our daily lives in countless ways. This course examines the connections and relationships of law and society using an interdisciplinary social science approach. As one of the founders of the Law and Society movement observed, "Law is too important to leave to lawyers." Accordingly, this course will borrow from several theoretical, disciplinary, and interdisciplinary perspectives (including sociology, history, anthropology, political science, and psychology) in order to explore the sociology of law and law's role. This course introduces the relationship between social, cultural, political, and economic forces on the one hand, and legal rules, practices, and outcomes, on the other. We focus on several important questions about law including: How do culture, structure, and conflict explain the relationship between law and society? Why do people obey the law? Why do people go to court? How does the legal system work? What is the role of lawyers, judges, and juries? How does law on the books differ from law in action? How do social problems become legal ones? How can law create or constrain social change?
LEGAL_ST 305-0-20	American Immigration (taught with HISTORY 305)	Shana Bernstein
LEGAL_ST 305-0-20 American Immigration (taught with HISTORY 305) This course introduces students to the social, political, legal, and cultural history of immigration in the United States. In addition to exploring the history of southern and eastern European immigrants, it uses a comparative framework to integrate Latin American and Asian migrants into our understanding of immigration since the late nineteenth century. The course is an exploration of major themes in immigration history rather than a comprehensive examination. Issues students will consider include immigration law, acculturation, community, racial formation, victimization vs. agency, the transnational and international context of immigration, and competing notions of citizenship, among others.
LEGAL_ST 308-0-20	Sociology of Law (taught with SOCIOL 318)	Robert Nelson
LEGAL_ST 308-0-20 Sociology of Law (taught with SOCIOL 318) This course examines the relationship between law and the distribution of power in society, with a particular emphasis on law and social change in the United States. Readings will be drawn from the social sciences and history, as well as selected court cases that raise critical questions about the role of race, gender, and sexual orientation in American society. Among the material we will examine are the documents made public in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Students should be aware that some of this material is graphic and disturbing.
LEGAL_ST 309-0-20	Political Theories of the Rule of Law (also POLI SCI 309)	Jacqueline Stevens
LEGAL_ST 309-0-20 Political Theories of the Rule of Law (also POLI SCI 309) Key documents and debates in the development of theories of law and jurisprudence. From Aeschylus to contemporary democratic and legal theories and major court cases on topics ranging from torture to Title IX.
LEGAL_ST 332-0-20	Constitutional Law I (also POLI SCI 332)	Galya Ben-Arieh
LEGAL_ST 332-0-20 Constitutional Law I (also POLI SCI 332) This course investigates the structure of American government as laid out by the Constitution. It will also examine the many controversies over what, exactly, the Constitution means, who gets to decide, and how. We will discuss judicial review, the powers of Congress and the executive branch, and the relationship between the federal government and the states.
LEGAL_ST 376-0-20	The Crime Centered Documentary (also HUM, RTVF)	Debra Tolchinsky
LEGAL_ST 376-0-20 The Crime Centered Documentary (also HUM, RTVF) In this course, we will view non-fiction and hybrid films that revolve around crime, criminal justice, and criminal court cases. Our emphasis will be on cases that are either mired in controversy and/or emblematic of wider social concerns. Readings will accompany viewings and experts will weigh in with legal, philosophical or scientific perspectives: What is accurately depicted? What is omitted? What is misrepresented? Concurrently, we will investigate the films aesthetically: How is the film structured and why? What choices are being made by the filmmaker in terms of camera, sound and editing and how do these choices affect viewers? Throughout the course, we will consider the ethics of depicting real people and traumatic events. We will also look at specific films in regard to their legal or societal impact. Assignments will include a series of short response papers and a substantial final project, which can take the form of either (up to the student) a final 12-15 page paper or an 8-12 minute film. The final should center upon a legal topic. Ideas include, but are not limited to: A comparison of two films depicting the same criminal case, a polished/edited interview with a person somehow connected to a crime, an investigation of a local court or legal advocacy center. Group projects (two people max) will be allowed.
LEGAL_ST 381-0-20	Children and the Law (taught with PSYCH 381)	Sara Broaders
LEGAL_ST 381-0-20 Children and the Law (taught with PSYCH 381) This course will address a variety of issues pertaining to children's involvement in the legal system in roles such as decision-makers, witnesses, victims, and perpetrators. Among the topics we may cover are: - the legal status, rights, and responsibilities of juveniles - children and custody proceedings - physical and sexual abuse of children - children as witnesses - juvenile culpability as perpetrators - development of criminal behavior - the juvenile justice system and developmental psychology - treatment and punishment of juvenile offenders
LEGAL_ST 398-2-20	Advanced Research Seminar II	Joanna Grisinger
LEGAL_ST 398-2-20 Advanced Research Seminar II Legal Studies 398 is a two-quarter sequence (398-1 and 398-2) required for all Legal Studies majors. This seminar will expose students to a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to law and legal institutions; over two quarters, students will develop their own research paper on a topic of interest. During winter quarter, students will complete their research projects and present their projects to the class. Students will meet to discuss shared readings, will workshop their paper drafts with one another, will prepare oral presentations based on their research, and will meet individually with the professor and with the Graduate Teaching Fellows.