The Curricular Committee on Law and Society administers a
cross-disciplinary Law and Society major, fosters the general
study of issues regarding law and society throughout the college,
and encourages public presentations by visiting scholars, jurists,
and lawyers. The recommended core law and society courses and
research seminars, and the law-related courses, explore philosophical,
political, economic, historical, sociological, ethical, scientific,
and religious issues that are central to understanding the role
of law and legal institutions in society.
Core law and society courses are selected with the following
objectives in mind: 1) center on law and legal institutions directly;
2) explore the historical, philosophical, and ethical underpinnings
of the development of law, thought, and institutions; and/or
3) provide the analytic skills necessary to understand the logic
and bases of legal thinking as a language in legal institutions,
the broader society, and the profession of law. Core research
seminars and private reading/research courses provide to students
forums to undertake research papers which meet the above objectives.
Law-related courses have sections within them that meet at least
one of the three objectives that are listed above or provide
students an opportunity to write a term paper in which the scholarly
issues of the course may be applied to legal institutions, thought,
and/or the logic of legal inquiry.
Major. The major consists of at least thirty hours of courses;
no more than eight hours may be taken at the introductory level;
no more than 15 hours may be taken away from campus. A minimum
of four core courses (at least 12 hours) and at least three additional
law-related or core courses (at least nine hours) are required
in the major. In addition, at least one core research seminar,
and a private reading/research course on a law-related topic,
or a second core research seminar in place of the private reading/research
course, is required of all majors. Finally, no more than 15 of
the first 30 hours of the major may be taken in one department.
Core courses or seminars must be completed in at least three
departments. Students must have two advisors from different departments
and complete a major registration form, including a rationale
for the major, which is submitted to Ronald Kahn, Chair, Law
and Society Curricular Committee, for approval.
Minor. Students may pursue a minor in Law and Society by completing
at least 15 hours of work. At least three core courses (in at
least two departments) and two additional law-related and/or
core courses must be completed as part of the minor. Students
wishing to discuss the Law and Society major, to secure a major
registration form, a list of current curricular committee members,
or to gain approval for a minor, please contact Ronald Kahn,
Chair, Law and Society Curricular Committee, Department of Politics,
Rice 232.
Economics (ECON)
217 Anti-Trust Economics
224 Law and Economics
253 Intermediate Microeconomics
History (HIST)
259 Revolutionary America and the Early Republic
355 Crime, Law and Order in Colonial India
Jewish Studies (JWST)
258 Introduction to the Talmud: Argument and Interpretation
Philosophy (PHIL)
105 Philosophy and Values
200 Deductive Logic
201 The Analysis of Reasoning
226 Social, Political and Legal Philosophy
234 Topics in Applied Ethics
235 Biomedical Ethics
Politics (POLT)
103 Political Change in America
202 American Constitutional Law
233 American Political Theory I: To the Civil War
236 American Political Theory II
Religion (RELG)
245 Moral Issues in Religious Perspective
249 Issues in Medical Ethics
271 Islamic Authorities: Law and Society
Sociology (SOCI)
123 Deviance, Discord, and Dismay
271 Sociology of Law and Legal Institutions
273 Criminology, Delinquency, and Legal Policy
331 Torts, Trials, and Troubles
365 Law, Literature, and Society
Gender and Women's Studies (GAWS)
406 Gender and the State in the Middle East and North Africa
History (HIST)
442 Democracy and Human Rights in China
Jewish Studies (JWST)
353 Seminar: Moses Maimonides: Philosophy and Law
Politics (POLT)
300 Seminar in Contemporary Constitutional Theory
301 Seminar in First Amendment
321 Seminar in International Politics: International Human Rights and Law
334 Seminar: Justice and Democracy in Contemporary America
Religion (RELG)
340 Seminar: Ethical Issues in Death and Dying
Classics (CLAS)
103 History of Greece
104 History of Rome
206 Greek and Roman Drama in Translation
Economics (ECON)
206 Financial Management
219 Labor-Management Relations
231 Environmental Economics
313 Games and Strategy in Economics
317 Industrial Organization
323 Public Sector Economics
331 Natural Resource Economics
English (ENGL)
371 Scene of the Crime: Crime Stories in American Film
372 Contemporary Literary Theory in American Culture
History (HIST)
263 The American Civil War and Reconstruction
266 Women and Social Movements in the United States
322 Women and Power in Nineteenth Century America
390 Slavery, Antislavery and Emancipation in American History
Politics (POLT)
119 First Amendment and the Internet (FYSP)
203 Congress: Politics and Policy-making
231 European Political Theory: Classical to Early Modern
232 European Political Theory: Machiavelli to Marx
Psychology (PSYC)
214 Abnormal Psychology
218 Social Psychology
410 Seminar in Sociocultural Psychology