Law, Societies & Global Justic

Explores themes that span the legal studies curriculum and many other courses on campus: the various relationships between law, societies, and justice on a global scale. While each instructor will assign different readings and emphasize different subject matter that will be identified in the course description on each syllabus (see below), the general themes and goals of this course are shared across sections.

Law at First Sight

This course provides a structured context for students to reflect on their own learning in their GenEd courses. It utilizes social and behavioral sciences - as well as natural and applied sciences, the humanities, law, and even the arts from time to time ? to practice constitutive socio-legal inquiry, and applies this theory to multiple real world settings. We are going to use the ?angle? of sight as our vehicle for attempting to gain a better understanding of the way that law shapes our realities ? and in turn how those set the parameters for law. Simply, what we see around us ?

S-Empirical Legal Studies

From academic research on the impact of landmark court cases to the judge reading a brief loaded with social policy arguments, the study of law frequently involves empirical data. In this course, students will both learn how to digest empirical legal research and be equipped with the skills to conduct their own empirical research.

S-Due Process/Criminal Trial

The course will focus on the impact of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments in criminal trials. The course will study the historical perspective, the current application and the likely future applications of the amendments. A fundamental understanding of the criminal trial process is required. Prerequisite: LEGAL 250

Human Rights & Wrongs

Introduction to humanitarian law. Topics include theory and history of international human rights law, growth and nature of human rights organizations, regional human rights schemes, cross-cultural contexts and meanings for human rights, the politics and law of immigration and refugees, international criminal law and other mechanisms for humanitarian intervention. Prerequisite: course in Legal Studies or international politics. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement for BA-Legal major.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

This course explores the historical origins of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in immigrant, religious, and indigenous communities in the U.S. and its development over the past 300 years. Why have advocates in the legal, commercial, labor, educational, and community sectors promoted its use? What has their impact been on the various forms of ADR? Whose interests are served by ADR? A critical analysis of mediation, arbitration, negotiation, and online dispute resolution in comparison to the judicial system include attention to how issues of power imbalances and identity impact ADR.

P- Citizen's Police Academy

This practicum course is a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Police Department's Citizen's Police Academy and the Legal Studies program. The Citizen's Police Academy is a combination of in-class lectures and hands-on experiences through which students learn how police officers are trained and how they do their jobs. Among other things, students will learn about the constitutional limits on police power, how crime scenes are processed and how police deal with active threat situations.

Practicum

Fieldwork experience for qualified students. Coordinated through the University's Office of Internships. Prerequisite: LEGAL 250. Generally open only to Legal Studies majors. Individual faculty sponsorship required.
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