Law and Society (206-0-20)
Instructors
Laura Nielsen
Legal Studies: 620 Lincoln St #204, Sociology: 1808 Chicago Ave # 209
Laura Beth Nielsen, JD, PhD is Professor of Sociology and Director of Legal Studies at Northwestern University as well as Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation. Her interests are in the study of law and inequality with a focus on race, gender, sexual orientation and other systems of unearned privilege. She studies legal consciousness – how ordinary people understand, invoke, and fail to invoke the law.
Meeting Info
Lutkin Hall: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
Law is everywhere. Law permits, prohibits, enables, legitimates, protects, and prosecutes. Law shapes our day-to-day 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 (such as sociology, history, anthropology, political science, and critical studies) in order to explore the sociology of law and law's role primarily in the American context. The thematic topics to be discussed include law and social control; law's role in social change; and law's capacity to reach into complex social relations and intervene in existing normative institutions and organizational structures.
Cross-listed with Legal_ST 206-0
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Recognize and articulate reciprocal relationships in the US legal system between societal forces, psychological forces, and the behaviors of individuals and groups, including one's position within these relationships, forces, and structures.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of major sociological and philosophical theories of law as related to the influence of culture and power on the behavior of individuals, interpersonal relationships, and group dynamics
3. Reflect upon the way in which the field of legal studies helps illuminate the factors underlying social issues, social problems, and ethical dilemmas in the United States.
4. Engage with sociolegal scholarship that addresses societal issues in the United States, including the historical and contemporary structures, processes, and practices that shape racism and anti-racism; power and resistance; justice and injustice; equality and inequality; agency and subjection; and belonging and subjection.
Teaching Method
Lectures and discussion sections
Evaluation Method
Closed book in class midterms and participation in discussion sections.
Class Materials (Required)
Calavita, Kitty. Invitation to Law & Society: An Introduction to the Study of Real Law. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 2016. 978-0-226-29658-6
All other readings will be available via Canvas.
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Anti-Req: Student may not receive credit for both Legal_St 206 and Sociol 206.
Associated Classes
DIS - TBA: Tues 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - TBA: Tues 2:00PM - 2:50PM
DIS - TBA: Tues 2:00PM - 2:50PM
DIS - TBA: Wed 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - TBA: Wed 2:00PM - 2:50PM
DIS - TBA: Wed 3:00PM - 3:50PM