Law and Society

Catalog description

This PhD- level seminar introduces law and society as a distinct theoretical and empirical field within sociology and the broader social sciences. Rather than treat law as a social institution, a cultural system, and a site of power that both shapes and is shaped by social relations. The seminar is organized around canonical theoretical traditions in law and society, each paired with foundational texts and influential empirical or theoretical works that extend, revise, or challenge those traditions. Across the quarter, students will engage scholarship spanning sociology, sociolegal studies, political science, anthropology, and critical legal studies. Particular attention is paid to how law operates across lines of race, gender, class, sexuality, citizenship, and national context. The course is designed both as a theoretical foundations seminar and as a research incubator. Students will be encouraged to critically assess theories, identify gaps or tensions in the literature, and develop original research questions that can inform dissertation projects or future sociolegal scholarship.