Law/Politics/Society (LPS)
LPS 0--. LPS-LOWER DIVISION. (1-10 Credits)
Lower Level Coursework in Law/Politics/Society
Level: Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Transfer
Schedule type(s): Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 001. INTRODUCTION TO LAW, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY. (3 Credits)
Introduction to the systems, practices, and intersections of law, politics, and society, as well as the various scholarly approaches to the study of those systems, practices, and interactions.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 1--. LPS-UPPER DIVISION. (1-10 Credits)
Upper Level Coursework in Law/Politics/Society
Level: Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Transfer
Schedule type(s): Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 002. CRITICAL CONCEPTS IN LAW, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY. (3 Credits)
In this course, students will be introduced to the critical concepts underpinning the study of Law, Politics, and Society. Students will engage in learning about concepts such as ideology, justice and injustice, jurisprudence, globalization, inequality and equality, community, authority, legitimacy, and individualism. Students will also engage in the study of concepts key to understanding the workings of the major; they will learn about intentional interdisciplinarity, critical analysis, the perceived ""law/politics divide,"" comparative and historical research, and the idea of paradigmatic transition."
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students with a classification of Freshman or Sophomore.
Enrollment is limited to students with an area(s) of study in Law, Politics & Society.
Enrollment limited to students in the Arts & Sciences college.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 031. LAW AND THE BORDERS OF BELONGING. (3 Credits)
Who is fully American? What happens to people who are not fully American? Often, law has provided the vocabulary for asking these questions, and defined the consequences for the answers. This course focuses on times and places when law has sometimes been a force for injustice in American history. We will pay particular attention to discrimination against people due to their gender, disability status, sexuality, and race. We will also discuss the ways law is both informed by and helps create social identities within American culture more broadly.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students with a classification of Freshman or Sophomore.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Values and Ethics
LPS 035. SPECIAL TOPICS. (3 Credits)
Units of study focusing on introduction to special topics, debates, and issues within the field of Law, Politics, and Society.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students with a classification of Freshman or Sophomore.
Students in the Law college may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 038. LAW AND ORDER. (3 Credits)
The production of order is one of the primary functions attributed to law. Today, criminal law and the institutions of criminal justice are accorded a privileged place in the performance of law's ordering function. This course provides an introduction to the contexts in which crime, criminal law, and criminal justice operate. The focus will be on the United States, but attention will likewise be given to contemporary efforts to extend the criminal justice paradigm into the international context. Proceeding in this way, this course will examine the strengths and limitations of the conventional criminal justice paradigm and develop a broader appreciation of the role played by crime and criminal justice in law's performance of its ordering function.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students with a classification of Freshman or Sophomore.
Enrollment is limited to students with an major in Law, Politics & Society.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 040. PUBLIC TRIALS. (3 Credits)
This introductory course examines widely reported and sensational trials as public performances of law. The course considers such trials as a significant form of public discourse by studying controversies surrounding the reporting and representation of trials, issues that arise in and through popular trials, as well as the dynamics of the trials themselves. In a broad sense, the course is about the meanings of law in American society and about the definitions of American society revealed in legal disputes.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 100. LAW, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY PERSPECTIVES ON CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. (3 Credits)
This course uses case law as a jumping off point for the application of interdisciplinary knowledge. In it, students examine particular strands of United States constitutional law, using historical, journalistic, political science, sociological, and other disciplinary modes to understand the development of doctrine over time, and the impact of law on public life. Required for majors.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Students with a classification of Freshman may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Engaged Citizen
LPS 111. CRIME & FILM. (3 Credits)
Why do people commit crime? This is one of the most fundamental questions facing any society and its justice system. In this course, we use film to survey the various explanations of crime put forward by scholars. At the same time, we will examine how film provides its own explanations of crime, shaping public attitudes in the process. This dual focus will allow us to think reflexively about how our consumption of media shapes our thinking about crime and, in turn, our thoughts on law, justice, and related matters.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): LPS 001
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Students with a classification of Freshman may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Critical Thinking
LPS 113. LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE. (3 Credits)
This course examines the role of law in helping to create (or block) social change, the use of legal mobilization by social movement activists, and the profession of ""cause lawyering."" Our focus wil lbe on the development of legal mobilization efforts in the United States, with the potential for a comparative examination of cause lawyering and legal mobilzation across the globe.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 120. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION. (3 Credits)
The movement to legalize marijuana continues to expand. What was once a fringe political issue is now the subject of
serious mainstream debate. Proponents frame legalization as both a justice issue and an economic opportunity.
Opponents express concern about increased use of a substance that has been illegal for so long. In this course we will
explore the current debate over legalization. We will examine the history of laws governing the cannabis plant; survey
various approaches to legalization, including medical, adult use, and decriminalization; and identify the values informing
different perspectives. We will conclude by using what we have learned to write our own policy proposals.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Values and Ethics
LPS 131. WHO BOSSES WHOM AND HOW?. (3 Credits)
Employers and the need for employment are significant factors that shape the lives of a great many people. This power in people's lives is in many respects private, rather than public. This class will investigate the role of law in regulating and maintaining the authority of employers and the need for employment. More broadly, we will treat the focus on employment as a case study through which to address larger questions about the relationship between law, social class, and private centers of authority.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Critical Thinking
LPS 133. DRUGS, LAW, AND SOCIETY. (3 Credits)
This course examines the social, legal, and political dimensions of drugs, drug use, and drug regulation, focusing on the United States in a global and comparative perspective. A full range of drugs, both legal and illegal, will be discussed. Topics include: the historical development of drug policy in the United States, including the War on Drugs; the production, distribution, and consumption of different types of drugs; drug addiction; therapeutics and recovery; the cultural construction of drugs and drug user identities; attempts to regulate drugs and drug users and their place in the context of state-making; the impact of drug regulations on the legal system, particularly criminal justice; and alternatives to contemporary drug policy and politics.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 135. SPECIAL TOPICS IN LAW, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY. (0-3 Credits)
Units of study focusing on special topics, debates, and issues within the field of Law, Politics, and Society. Prereq.: LPS 001 or permission of instructor.
Level: Law, Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Students with a classification of Freshman may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 136. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. (3 Credits)
The legal systems that govern the use of intangibles or non-physical forms of property, known as intellectual property (IP) laws, structure and regulate the way we entertain ourselves, obtain our news, choose our fashion, and get access to education, food, medicine, and art. Intangibles properties, thus, manifest as cultural and material forms permeating our everyday lives. Such legal protections turn musical compositions, artistic expressions, software, films, logos, compositions of matter, chemical fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, medical treatments, computer chips, celebrity images, food names, and even seeds into commodities with market value. But where does the information that goes into such creative work come from and how do we gain access to it? And who benefits from it? How would anything new and creative come into being unless there were cultural resources available for us to transform? This course explores these questions through their historical and contemporary socio-legal examples, emphasizing concepts such as the 'commons', 'information capitalism', and 'commodification'.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): LPS 001
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 137. AMERICAN INDIAN LAW AND POLITICS. (3 Credits)
This course examines contemporary issues in American Indian law and politics, among them: casino ownership, environmental stewardship, electoral politics, cultural protection and revitalization, tribal courts, and territorial sovereignty. in all of these cases, there are debates about the proper role for tribal people, tribal governments, federal and state entities, and the non-Indian public. In this course, we will focus on several arenas: tribal cultural spaces, tribal public representations, courtrooms and Congress, academia, and the media. We will attempt to understand the competing worldviews of those engaged in these dialogues about tribal sovereignty and survival, and the very real economic and political interests at stake in these debates. In some of these cases, the debate hasn't moved forward, and the issues lack acceptable resolution; in other cases, productive dialogue has created truly innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems of poverty, powerlessness, and racism.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Global and Cultural Understand
LPS 138. REPRODUCTIVE LAW AND POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES. (3 Credits)
This course will introduce students to the case law, national politics, and grassroots movements surrounding a number of issues within ""reproductive politics"" in the United States. It focuses on the nature of the debate, and asks if there are issues around which people may find agreement, particular voices that have not been heard, and policies that have not been explored.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Students with a classification of Freshman may not enroll.
Graduate or Law level students may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: Engaged Citizen
LPS 142. LAW AND SOCIETY IN CHANGING CLIMATE. (3 Credits)
This course will address the overlap between law, society and climate change. In particular we will ask how and to what
extent law and the social, cultural and economic practices it enables and constrains, is a tool which both contributes to
and mitigates against climate change.
Our approach is organized around three main areas: the way we use law to make cultural meaning; how we structure
access to resources; and how power is consolidated and resisted. Topics to be addressed in-depth include the physical
displacement of humans and other animals and the legal and social responses to those movements; the idea of
displacement of responsibility and the deferring of crisis management from older to younger generations, and from
wealthier, more powerful states to those with less; and the role of law and hope.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 145. LPS IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH. (3 Credits)
This course explores the mutual constitution of law and politics on a global scale with an emphasis on the perspective of peoples and countries of the
Global South. We begin the course by exploring frameworks for global socio-legal approaches. We then take these approaches, along with frameworks emanating predominantly from the Global South, to think through urgent global topics such as: human rights, indigeneity, migration, climate change, armed conflict, poverty, and race, gender and sexuality. We will examine and challenge liberal legal dichotomies such as local/global and colonialism/globalization through engagement with critical methodologies. This course emphasizes critical self-reflection; we are working not only to engage with concepts that elucidate the mutual constitution of law and politics (and their effects) as they unfold across the various parts of the world, but to understand how we are implicated in these issues both individually and collectively.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 147. UNCOMFORTABLE TRANSACTIONS. (3 Credits)
People often buy and sell body parts, bodily fluids, corpses and
other people. Sometimes these transactions are legal and
sometimes they are illegal. Either way, these economic
exchanges often make us uneasy because of our beliefs about
what is and is not appropriate to buy and sell. In this class we
will examine activities like the slave trade, prostitution, the organ
trade, commercial surrogacy, and the sale of plasma, semen,
and human eggs. Through historical, contemporary, and
theoretical work, we will investigate these transactions and ask
what they can tell us about the relationships between law,
markets, and culture.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 155. CLASS, RACE, GENDER AND LAW. (3 Credits)
Critical, Critical Race, and Feminist Legal Theories represent new (from the 1970s until the contemporary period) ways of thinking about and understanding the role of law in our lives. This course will introduce students to the foundational work in these realms as well as newer extensions of the theory via critical disability, queer, and intersectional analyses.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions: None
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 190. SENIOR SEMINAR. (3 Credits)
The senior seminar in Law, Politics, and Society is the required capstone course for those graduated with the major. Restricted to seniors and majors.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): LPS 100
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Students with a classification of Freshman, Junior or Sophomore may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Lecture, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None
LPS 199. DIRECTED RESEARCH AND READING IN LAW, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY. (1-3 Credits)
This course enables students to engage in directed reading and research in the field of Law, Politics, and Society. Supervised by faculty in the major.
Level: Non Degree Coursework, Professional Health Care, Undergraduate
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
Restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students with a classification of Junior, Sophomore or Senior.
Enrollment is limited to students with an major in Law, Politics & Society.
Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate level students.
Students in the Arts & Sciences college may not enroll.
Primary grade mode: Standard Letter
Schedule type(s): Independent Study, Web Instructed
Area(s) of Inquiry: None