An interdisciplinary introduction to legal systems and the law. Laws are created by social and cultural systems and affected by social, economic and political environments. This course will help students understand the development and impact of legal systems through case studies of many current legal issues and debates. There will also be an introduction to international comparisons.
This course provides an introduction to criminal justice in America. Students will examine the criminal justice system and process in the social context of justice and democratic society. They will study the police and criminal courts as political institutions that make decisions with an eye to the press and popular opinion as well as to race, class and justice.
This course provides an introduction to Law and American Government in action. In the course students will investigate the structures and processes of American Government and the relationships between the three branches of government within the context of how public policy is made and implemented.
This course provides an examination of the sources, growth, development, and interpretation of the United States Constitution. It also examines the role of the Supreme Court in addressing issues of constitutionality, and considers key cases, historically and currently.
This course provides an introduction to comparative law, and how different legal systems approach the law, legal analysis and legal culture. This course provides an examination of comparative legal systems, which consist of legal processes, institutions and culture, through a series of thematic comparative case studies. It also examines the role of dispute resolution processes in different legal cultures; addresses issues of civil, criminal and administrative law; and considers key cases, historically and currently.
Forensic Science is the collection, study and presentation of scientific evidence in a court of law used in both criminal and civil trials. The goal of forensics is the dispassionate use of science to reliably establish facts free of claims of bias or mistake. The mission of this course is to introduce many of the techniques used daily in courts of law to establish the admissibility of evidence and to examine the benefits of forensics in the creation of this admissible evidence as well as its limitations and potential for misuse.
Introduction to Law Enforcement addresses the role that police officers play in society and the Criminal Justice System. The course is designed to highlight the structure and history of police; the nature of police work; police discretion and misconduct; the major trends and issues facing law enforcement; different types of policing strategies, and the future of the Law Enforcement field. The goal is to present students with potential situations that 21 century law enforcement is faced with and provide hands on real world techniques to understand and deal with challenges of the profession.
Students will examine popular and iconic conspiracy theories, real and imagined including 9/11, the JFK assassination and Watergate with the purpose of deconstructing the evidence, investigating the reason for their creation and analyzing their effect on American Society, culture and politics. Prerequisite is Writ 101
This course provides an introduction to the international law system that examines the rules binding the international conduct of states and non-state actors. The course covers topics related to the sources and functions of international law, and related issues of jurisdiction and standing. It also focuses on international institutions, and specific issues in international law such as the rules of warfare and peacekeeping; human rights; international trade and communication.
This course provides students with the foundation to recognize, understand, and resolve legal and ethical issues associated with contemporary healthcare. It represents an introduction to the US legal system and the basics of ethical and bioethical issues. Students explore liability, conflict management, the consent process, and the business of medicine, privacy and the role of an ethics Additionally students debate the ethical and legal consequences of contemporary health-related issues (such as end-of-life dilemmas, surrogacy and, organ donation).
WRITING INTENSIVE: This course examines the intersection between ethical issues and law in the context of the United States. The course will consider contemporary cases that illustrate the intersection of contemporary legal and ethical issues. There will be a service-learning component to this class. [Writing Intensive]
This course examines the dynamic interactions between law, technology and media and how they affect a variety of global social and legal issues, including the democratic process, civil rights, and how individuals relate to each other legally, socially, economically, and sexually.
WRITING INTENSIVE: This course will introduce students to the basics tenets of legal research, writing and persuasive arguing by way of a moot court appellate competition focusing on current controversial topics that affect both American law and society. [Writing Intensive]
This course will examine how the courts and the democratic process have confronted issues of civil rights in the area of law and gender. Using court cases and legislative acts, students will study: (1) The historical denial of basic civil rights to women; (2) Gender discrimination and the law's efforts combat this discrimination; (3) Abortion rights; (4) Same-sex marriage, and (5) Violence against women and sexual assault. Students will learn how the law affects gender discrimination and analyze how well the law allows us to challenge discrimination.
The law has played a significant role in establishing what race and racism are in American society. From the conception of slavery in America, to the Jim Crow laws that segregated Black people, to the disproportionate criminalization and brutality against Black Americans, and onerous voting laws racism and white supremacy have persevered in the U.S. through law. The purpose of this class is to examine the role of the law in creating, perpetuating and enforcing racist actions, policies, behaviors and attitudes and how the law can be a tool in mitigating these established inequities.
This course considers how digital networked technologies have impacted our legal and social institutions. Subjects may include: global regulation of the Internet; domain names and trademarks; pornography and First Amendment Free Speech issues; platforms and third-party liability; platform governance and moderation; computer fraud and abuse; mass data collection and web scraping; digital evidence for criminal and civil cases; combatting online harassment; and privacy and surveillance.
This course examines the first amendment rights of speech, press and association, and focuses on landmark Supreme Court rulings and scholarly commentary. The course will provide students with skills to critically interpret the First Amendment and apply lessons learned to their own lives. It will cover such issues as libel law, obscenity, symbolic speech, and freedom of the press and freedom of association.
This capstone course for the Law and Society major combines a classroom seminar (50 minutes per week) on advocacy skills with a real-world public policy advocacy project within either a self-selected pre-existing organization or an initiative of the student?s own creation and design. Students will also receive 100 minutes of designated instruction time, via the web, during which their E-Reports will be reviewed and the status of their projects will be discussed. Students will review and integrate the skills and knowledge they developed during previous courses in the Law and Society curriculum while also applying the principles of public policy theory and oral and written advocacy to the student?s selected project. [Writing Intensive]