Admission requirements
Admission to the Master Law and Society; completion of summer reading requirements.
Description
This class is the beginning of the course of study in the Master Law and Society. The course will introduce students to major theoretical perspectives in the field of socio-legal studies and survey central problems in contemporary research. The course serves both to provide a foundation for more advanced and topic-specific courses, and to introduce students to a range of faculty and research areas in the Master.
The course is guided by three overarching questions: How is law in the books different from law in action? How do law and legal institutions affect social relations and the distribution of power within society? And how do social relations and existing power differentials affect the emergence, preservation, and changes of law and legal institutions? In considering these questions, the course concentrates on themes that are further developed in the Master, including lawmaking, law enforcement, dispute resolution, legal pluralism, and the role of social movements.
The course will begin with a series of interactive lectures and small seminar teaching lead by the course coordinator to introduce students to the field of socio-legal studies. After the first several meetings, the course will feature guest lectures from the faculty of the Master, who will discuss areas of their specific topical expertise.
Course objectives
Objectives of the course
At the end of this course, students must be able to:
Explain how society influences the emergence, preservation, and change of laws and legal institutions;
Describe how the enforcement of laws, and the behavior of legal institutions, affect different segments of society;
Distinguish the different determinants of legal consciousness;
Offer different explanations for variation in (non)compliance, enforcement, disputing, and dispute resolution;
Evaluate the basic logic and soundness of empirical socio-legal research.
Timetable
Available on the website.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Number of (2 hour) lectures: 1 per week for 10 weeks
Names of lecturers: to be announced
Required preparation by students: completion of required reading
Seminars
Number of (2 hour) seminars: 1 per week for 10 weeks
Names of instructors: to be announced
Required preparation by students: completion of required reading and class reflections
Assessment method
Examination form(s)
The course requires a midterm examination (30%) and a final examination (70%).
Both exams will be take-home with students given a definite amount of time and word count in advance to complete the exam.
Only the final examination can be resit, which then counts for 100% of the grade.
Submission procedures
Submission of exams will take place through the online course platform on Brightspace.
Areas to be tested within the exam
The examination syllabus consists of the required reading (literature) for the course, the course information guide and the subjects taught in the lectures, the seminars and all other instructions which are part of the course.
Reading list
Obligatory course materials
The required reading, as well as supplemental and recommended materials, will be posted online in advance on the Brightspace environment for the course.
Registration
Students have to register for this course in uSis.
Contact information
Coordinator: Chase Burton
Work address: KOG (Steenschuur 25 Leiden), room A1.57
Telephone number: +31 (0) 71 527 7260
Email: c.s.burton@law.leidenuniv.nl
Institution/division
Institute: The Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law
Department: Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance & Society
Room number secretary: KOG (Steenschuur 25 Leiden), room B1.14
Opening hours: Mon – Fri, 9.00 – 17.00
Telephone number secretary: +31 (0)71 527 7260
Email: vollenhoven@law.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
None.