Program Overview
Pre-Law and Legal Careers
Discover the infinite possibilities of law.
Photo credit: Michael Hartman
Engage in Today’s Most Pressing Issues
Launching from Oberlin
The top three law schools attended by Oberlin graduates are Harvard, University of California Berkeley, and Georgetown.
A Legacy of Legal Professionals
Oberlin has an excellent track record placing graduates in the fields of law and public policy. More than 10 percent of Oberlin alumni work in law-related fields.
Featured Courses
PHIL 121
Philosophy & Morality
This course introduces the discipline and practice of philosophy within the context of ethical inquiry. Questions explored include: Where does morality come from? Is morality relative? What makes a life go well? How do we know which actions are right and wrong? The course also considers several ethical disputes such as abortion and euthanasia.
- Taught by
LAWS 200
Law and Society: An Overview
Law frames the way we live as a society, from providing practical resolutions to contentious issues to guiding policies that affect how we relate to one another. This course introduces students to various types of law and fields of inquiry that examine how law and society impact one another. Film viewing required.
- Taught by
- Joyce Kloc Babyak
AAST 220
Doin’ Time: A History of Black Incarceration
This course considers how a system imprisoning Black men and women in the U.S. has been sustained from the colonial times to the present. It establishes a theoretical grounding for understanding systems of surveillance and confinement, as well as the institutions and practices that sustain what can arguably be termed 21st century enslavement.
- Taught by
POLT 229
Politics & Power of International Law
From climate change and poverty, to war and repression, we increasingly seek legal solutions to major global problems. And yet, international law has not developed the kind of enforcement mechanism that anchors domestic regimes. The course explores this paradox while examining what international is, and what its impact on global politics can be.
- Taught by
- Joshua Freedman
Student Profiles
Late Nights and Briefings
Jakheem Wheatley ’19 knew he always wanted to attend law school. After graduating with a double major in law and society and sociology, he is now a law student at UIC John Marshall Law School in Chicago.
Advocating for Immigrants
An English major at Oberlin, Joanne Lee ’15 discovered her calling to be an immigration attorney at Yale Law School.
From Double Major to Law School
At Oberlin, Emily Kelly-Olsen ’19 was a dedicated track and field athlete and politics and East Asian studies double major. She is now a student at the University of Michigan Law School.
