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.
LEGAL_ST 101-7 College Seminar: Investigating Representations of True Crime
This course broadly provides a cultural analysis of true crime and pop culture. In particular, we’ll uncover why true crime stories seem to go viral (and why certain folks enjoy devouring these narratives). We will think intersectionally, analyzing how race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and citizenship shape concepts of “victimhood” and “criminality,” as well as make certain true crime narratives more “popular” than others. Finally, we will develop a robust theoretical toolkit, combining an interdisciplinary range of perspectives from feminist anti-violence studies, critical criminology, literary criticism, and creative non-fiction journalism.
LEGAL_ST 206-0-20 Law and Society (also SOCIOL 206)
Law is everywhere. Law permits, prohibits, enables, legitimates,protects, and prosecutes. Law shapes our day-to-day lives incountless ways. This course examines the connections andrelationships of law and society using an interdisciplinary socialscience approach. As one of the founders of the Law and Societymovement observed, "law is too important to leave to lawyers."Accordingly, this course will borrow from several theoretical,disciplinary, and interdisciplinary perspectives (such as sociology,history, anthropology, political science, and critical studies) in order toexplore the sociology of law and law's role primarily in the Americancontext. The thematic topics to be discussed include law and socialcontrol; law's role in social change; and law's capacity to reach intocomplex social relations and intervene in existing normativeinstitutions and organizational structures.
LEGAL_ST 305-0-1 American Immigration (also 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 308-0-1 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 332-0-1 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 340-0-1 Gender, Sexuality and the Law (also GNDR ST 340)
This course is intended as a survey of how law has reflected and created distinctions on the basis of gender and sexuality throughout American history. We'll look at legal categories of gender and sexuality that have governed (and, often, continue to govern) the household (including marriage, divorce, and custody), the economy (including employment, property, and credit), and the political sphere (including voting, jury service, and citizenship). Throughout the course, we will examine the relationship between legal rules and social conditions, and discuss how various groups have challenged these legal categories. Taught with GNDR ST 340.
LEGAL_ST 376-0-23 Deportation Law and Politics (also POLI_SCI 307)
In this class we will read, watch films, and discuss the history, laws, and theories behind the deportation laws and politics attracting front-page headlines today. The history includes the practice of banishment in ancient Greece and Rome; the destruction by European conquistadors and explorers of long-settled communities in the Americas; the forced transport of "masterless men" from England to the colonies; the banishment of Americans of so-called African, Mexican, and Asian descent from their homes and communities; European resettlement policies for national minorities following World War One; the "destruction of the European Jews"; and 20th and 21st century deportations in Europe and the United States and their effects elsewhere. The course will devote attention to theories of the family and intergenerational identities that animate attachments to race and nationality, as well as comparisons among deportation policies in different regions and epochs. Students will be required to listen to actual immigration hearings and write their analyses of two of these. Students must be able to observe at least three hours of immigration court hearings in downtown Chicago. The hearings are typically M-Th and start at 9 a.m. Professor will make information on observations available, but it is the responsibility of the student to go to court and complete the required observations.
LEGAL_ST 398-1-20 Advanced Research Seminar (Majors Only)
Legal Studies 398-1,2 is a two-quarter sequence required for all Legal Studies majors. This seminar exposes 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.
