Teaching

Introduction to Legal Studies

Download Syllabus: HALUSHKA – JS 12 FALL 2018

The course presents historical and modern perspectives of the theories and structures of law, and provides an overview of the economic and sociological challenges to law making. This course also examines the nexus between law, social change, and dispute resolution.

The course covers five main areas of law and society research: (1) Theories of jurisprudence and the sociology of law; (2) Constitutional law and social change; (3) Criminal law and mass imprisonment; (4) Civil law and the politics of tort reform; and (5) International law and human rights. In each of these areas of study, our goal is to combine legal analysis with empirical social science research to better understand how law shapes social and political institutions, and in turn, how these institutions shape how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced

 

Criminology

Download Syllabus: Criminology_SP2016_Syllabus

This course is designed to introduce students to the social scientific study of criminal law, criminal behavior, and social control. Drawing on a variety of theories and methodologies, the goal of the course is to teach students how to think and write critically about crime and criminal justice. Some of the major themes addressed in this class are: What is crime and how is it defined? Who gets to decide what is criminal and what is not? What role do media and politics play in shaping public perceptions of crime in society? How do social scientists measure the prevalence of criminality and victimization in society? What causes criminal behavior? Is crime simply a matter of individual choice, or do other factors outside an individual’s control determine criminal behavior? Why do certain neighborhoods have higher crime rates than others? Why do certain demographic groups have high rates of criminality and/or victimization? How does American society respond to the problem of crime? Is this response appropriate?

The course begins by exploring how society goes about defining crime, and how the media, politicians, and law shape public perceptions of crime in society. Next, we explore how social scientists measure the prevalence of criminality and victimization in society and discuss the strengths and limitations of these measurements. The core of the course is devoted to studying classical and contemporary theories of crime causation (or the etiology of crime). Starting from the role that individual biology and psychology play in criminal behavior, we then turn to explanations of crime that focus on the role of social interaction, social ecology, and social structure in shaping patterns of criminal behavior. Next, we study patterns of criminality and victimization for different types of crime: street crime, drug-related crimes, sexual and domestic violence, corporate crimes, and political and government crimes. The course concludes by examining how society responds to the problem of crime. We focus on the various institutions that make up the criminal justice system: the police, courts, prisons, and the death penalty.

 

Law and Society

Download Syllabus: LawandSocietySyllabus-SU2015

This course is designed to introduce students to the social scientific study of law. Drawing on a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, the goal of this course is to teach students how to think and write critically about law, legal institutions, legal actors, and the reciprocal relationship between law and society. Some of the major themes addressed in the course are: What are the origins of law? Does law transcend human existence or is it a “social construction”? Whose interests does the law represent? Does law reflect societal consensus about what is right and wrong or does law reflect the interests of certain groups over others? How do political actors use law to further their interests? Does law remedy or reinforce social inequality? How does law operate in a global society?

The course covers five main areas of law and society research: (1) Theories of jurisprudence and the sociology of law; (2) Constitutional law and social change; (3) Criminal law and mass imprisonment; (4) Civil law and the politics of tort reform; and (5) International law and human rights. In each of these areas of study, our goal is to combine legal analysis with empirical social science research to better understand how law shapes social and political institutions, and in turn, how these institutions shape how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced.