Program: Law and Society Concentration - Clark University

Undergraduate Concentration Overview

The interdisciplinary law and society concentration explores questions about the impact and effects of law, legal institutions and legal actors on society from a variety of perspectives. It also explores the identification and analysis of legal arguments in a variety of contexts. Some of the courses also help the students develop their oral advocacy skills. The concentration can be taken in conjunction with any major at Clark. Generally, 200-level courses are not appropriate for first-year students.

For more information, please visit the Law and Society Concentration’s website.

Concentration Requirements

Students must take a minimum of six courses to fulfill the concentration.

1. The six courses must come from at least three different departments.
2. At least two of the courses must be at the 200 level.
3. At least one of the six courses must be a core course, which should be taken as early as possible in the student’s academic program. Core courses are intended to introduce students to some of the practical and theoretical approaches to studying law as it related to society.

ECON 011 - Principles of Economics
HIST 071 - Introduction to European History, Part II, Since 1600
PHIL 132 - Social and Political Ethics
PSCI 050 - Introduction to American Government
PSYC 120 - Introduction to Cognition
SOC 262 - Law and Society

4. One of the six courses must be a capstone experience (a seminar, an internship or a directed- research project). Many of these courses involve research but not all. These courses will provide students with the opportunity to apply the tools, concepts, and content knowledg they have acquired in their earlier coursework.

HIST 224 - Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Europe
PHIL 270 - Philosophy of Law
PSCI 280 - Politics of Food and Drink
PSCI 288 - Immigration, Identity, and Diversity Politics in the US
PSCI 296 - Advanced Topics in American Politics: Capstone Seminar
PSYC 282 - Cognition in Context
SOC 272 - Punishment, Politics and Culture

Legal internships sponsored by faculty from any of the academic departments which crosslist Law and Society classes.

Independent study with faculty in any of the academic departments which crosslist Law and Society classes.

A 200-level elective course from the full course list below may fulfill the capstone experience requirement with permission from the student’s advisor.

Once they have completed their capstone experience, concentrators will be expected to submit a brief (3-5 page) essay to their advisor reflecting on the connections among their Law and Society courses. In lieu of an essay, students may submit a podcast, a video, a poster, or some other intellectual product that satisfies the requirement that they reflect on the connections among their courses.

No more than two Law and Society courses can also be counted toward the student’s major or minor requirements, or toward another concentration.

Internships

Participating faculty sponsor a variety of undergraduate legal and law-related internship experiences. Students interested in these opportunities should inquire with the internship coordinator in the Office of Career Services.

Directed Readings, Individual Research

Students who are motivated to undertake significant independent research should consult the individual faculty member with whom they wish to work regarding opportunities for independent study projects.

Program Faculty

Co-directors
Rob Boatright
Nina Kushner

Associate faculty
Alena Esposito, Psychology
Patricia Ewick (emerita), Sociology

Courses

Courses offered within the last 2 Academic Years