Law and Society (206-0-20)

Instructors

Joanna Grisinger
847 491 3987
620 Lincoln St #201
I am an American legal historian whose research focuses on the politics of the modern administrative state. At Northwestern, I teach courses on law and society, U.S. legal history, gender and the law, and constitutional law.

Meeting Info

Harris Hall 107: 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) 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:
develop the knowledge and skills necessary to work with analytical concepts like ability, age, ethnicity, gender, law, nationality, race, religion, politics, sexuality, and social status; develop the ability to critique theories, claims, and policies in the social sciences through careful evaluation of an argument's major assertions, assumptions, evidential basis, and explanatory utility; 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, group dynamics, and institutions; reflect upon how theories and research from the field of legal studies (which itself draws from sociology, history, anthropology, political science, and psychology, among other social sciences) helps illuminate the factors underlying social issues, social problems, and ethical dilemmas in the U.S., and informs potential solutions; engage with primary sources (like court cases and newspaper articles) and sociolegal scholarship (like academic journal articles and book chapters) that engage with law's role in 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—in ways that shape both institutional decisionmaking and broader political and social understandings of these concepts; recognize and articulate the reciprocal relationships in the U.S. legal system between societal, cultural, political, and economic forces, on the one hand, and legal rules, practices, and outcomes, on the other; understand the relationship of these factors on the behaviors of individuals and groups, and reflect on one's own position within these relationships, forces, and structures; analyze how these terms and categories intersect and overlap.

Evaluation Method

Online and/or in-class quizzes; in-person midterm and final; participation

Class Materials (Required)

All materials for this course will be made available on Canvas - no purchase necessary.

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 - University Hall 312: Tues 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Tues 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 215: Tues 3:00PM - 3:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 106: Tues 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 214: Wed 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 212: Wed 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Parkes Hall 215: Wed 3:00PM - 3:50PM

DIS - NO DATA: NO DATA