The Law and Society Major provides students with an understanding of the place of law in economic, cultural, political, and social life.
Rather than reflecting universal or natural laws, legal systems intersect with social structures and systems of stratification. Laws can mediate or exacerbate conflicts, reinforce or help to change social norms, determine access to institutions, and even regulate personal reproductive decisions and define intimate relationships. The major includes courses relating to a wide array of areas of study, including the criminal justice system; immigration law and policy; housing and residential segregation by race and social class; reproductive and marital rights; religious freedom; public welfare systems; and other historical and contemporary complexities at the intersection of law and society. Courses will examine how laws get made, how they evolve, and whether and how they are enforced. Courses will also delve into the impact of laws and legal systems, and how they shape social life by constraining some actions and enabling others. They will also elucidate how the law patterns inequality by race, ethnicity, nativity, religion, gender, and sexuality. The Law and Society major benefits students upon graduation with a wide range of opportunities including the pursuit of graduate studies in law, engaging in policy work, and other careers in the public and private sectors where a holistic understanding of the intersection of law and various aspects of society is beneficial.
TO DECLARE AS A LAW AND SOCIETY MAJOR:
To declare, please contact the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Wright at marcuswr@sas.upenn.edu. Students who major in Law and Society cannot double major in Sociology, nor can they do any of the minors in the Sociology program (Sociology, Medical Sociology, Law and Society).
LAW AND SOCIETY MAJOR REQUIREMENTS (14 CU's):
Core (3 CU's)
SOCI 1120: Law and Society
SOCI 1000: Introduction to Sociology
SOCI 2000: Sociological Research Methods
Breadth Requirements (6 CU's):
Students are required to take at least 2 courses in each of 3 substantive areas: the criminal justice system, systems of stratification, and social problems and policy.
A. The Criminal Justice System (2 CUs):
SOCI 1030: Deviance
SOCI 2902: The U.S. and Human Rights – Policies and Practices
SOCI 2908: Carceral Crisis – The Question of Abolition
SOCI 2920: Criminology
SOCI 2921: Criminal Justice
SOCI 4002: Criminal Justice Data Analytics
URBS2090: Neighborhood Dynamics of Crime
URBS2810: The U.S. Criminal Justice System in Urban Context
B. Systems of Stratification (2 CUs – must be in different areas):
~Race and ethnicity~
SOCI 0003: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity (First Year Seminar)
SOCI 1060: Race and Ethnic Relations
SOCI 2907: Race, Rights and Rebellion
ANTH 0020 Anthropology, Race, and the Making of the Modern World
PSCI 1290: Race and Ethnic Politics
~Immigration~
SOCI 2680: Contemporary Immigration in the US
PSCI 1103 Dilemmas of Immigration
~Social stratification~
SOCI 0001: Poverty and Inequality (First-year seminar)
SOCI 1050: Social Stratification
PSCI 1606 Freedom, Power, and Equality
~Gender~
SOCI 1100: Sociology of Gender
GSWS 0050: Gender, Sexuality, and Religion
GSWS 0680: Feminist Political Thought
C. Social Problems and Public Policy (2 CUs):
SOCI 0004: The Law in our Lives
SOCI 1090: Urban Sociology
SOCI 1150: Fair Housing, Segregation and the Law
SOCI 2200: Religion
SOCI 2240: Law and Social Change
SOCI 2420: Social Problems and Public Policy
SOCI 2430: Race, Science and Justice
SOCI 2450: Poverty Race and Health
(alternatives: SOCI 0002: Social Inequality and Health - First-year seminar; SOCI 2460: Social Inequality and Health; or SOCI 2952: Health and Social Justice)
SOCI 2691: Innovation, Regulations, Technology and Society: Experience from East Asia
SOCI 2940: Homelessness and Urban Inequality
SOCI 2943: Global Urban Education
SOCI 2944: Perspectives on Urban Poverty
Electives (4 CU's)
Any 4 courses in Sociology or from other departments that relate to the law. Courses outside of this may be approved at the discretion of the undergraduate chair.
SOCI 0116: American Race – A Philadelphia Story
SOCI 0270: The Immigrant City
SOCI 2440: Social Movements
SOCI 2690: Comparative International Education – Focus on East Asian Education
SOCI 2973: Culture on Trial: Race, Media, and Intellectual Property
ANTH 1410 Museums, Monuments, and Social Justice
AFRC 3500: American Slavery and Law
COMM 3230: Contemporary Politics, Policy and Journalism
COMM 4320: Digital Inequalities
ECON 0440: Law and Economics
EDUC 5418: Global Governance and Cooperation: Int’l Education Policy and Practice
EDUC 5439: Examining the School to Prison Pipeline: Implications of History, Police
EDUC 5841: Access and Choice in Higher Education
ENGL 0060 Intro to Literature and Law
ENGL 0599 Cinema and Civil Rights
ENGL 1131 Crime and Criminality in Early America
ENGL 2460 Law and Literature Seminar
ENGL 2321 Criminal Sexuality
HIST 1172: Bodies, Race, and Rights - Sex and Citizenship in the 20th Century America
HIST 1119: History of American Law to 1877
HIST 1169: History of American Law since 1877
HIST 3158: ¡Huelga! The Farmworker Movement in the U.S.
HIST 1733: Free Speech and Censorship
HIST 3910: Immigration and the Making of US Law
LALS 3020: Diplomacy in the Americas
LALS 3745: Rights of/for Nature: Critical Engagements from Latin America
LALS 5240: Latinxs and the Law
LGST1010: Law and Social Values
LGST 1010: Law and Social Values
LGST 2020: Law of Corporate Management and Finance
LGST 2080: Law and the Workplace
LGST 2120: Economic Analysis of Law
LGST 2150: Environmental Management: Law and Policy
LGST 2180: Diversity and The Law
LGST 2190: Law and Policy in International Business
LGST 2210: Constitutional Law and Free Enterprise
LGST 2240: Human Rights & Globalization
LGST 2260: Markets, Morality and Capitalism
PHIL 1450: Philosophy of Law
PHIL 2450: Justice Law and Morality
PSCI 3401: International Law
PSCI 1205: Constitutional Law
PSCI 1406 International Human Rights
PSCI 4250 Law, Religion, and Politics
URBS 2040: Urban Law
URBS2110 Restorative Justice in the City
URBS2850: Health on the Urban Margins
Advanced Research (1 CU)
Independent Study/Research Project on the intersection of law and society
If you are interested in Honors, the requirements are:
- Take SOCI 4100 Thesis Workshop I (.5 CU) and SOCI 4101 Thesis Workshop II (.5 CU) to fulfill 1 CU of the Electives requirement
- Complete an independent study (1 CU) focused on your thesis research to fulfill the “Advanced Research” requirement.
- Complete a thesis by the end of January of your Senior year
- Maintain a 3.5 GPA in the major and a 3.3. GPA overall