西新英格兰学院

The Law and Society major is a course of study for the liberal arts student who is interested in studying the origins, actors, institutional frameworks, cultural development, and theoretical foundations of law and justice as they relate to society. The study of law and society draws from the insights and tools of academic disciplines like history, political science, philosophy, sociology, economics, and related social sciences, to illuminate the development and practice of law and jurisprudence through a variety of legal traditions. This major looks at law, broadly construed, and legal actors and institutions in a wide variety of contexts: domestic (i.e., United States), foreign, and international.

This is an interdisciplinary major, so students in this program are not confined to learning about law through the narrow prism of one particular discipline. The goal of the program is to allow students the freedom to sample from a wide variety of courses and instructors and to pursue specific interests within a broad organizing framework — the law.

Career Opportunities

The goal of the program is to produce students who can think clearly and dissect and analyze arguments critically. The multidisciplinary approach exposes students to a great variety of human behaviors and institutions. The law and society major is not designed to be the only path for preparing students for law school, nor does it provide paralegal training, but many students who plan to attend law school may benefit from and enjoy this major as a field of study. The broadly based education offered by this major is an excellent preparation for careers in law, education, government, business, and international affairs.

Program Objectives

Understand law in its various theoretical, institutional, and historical forms and as it exists in practice.
Consider how various historical, social, economic, and political contexts shape the construction, mobilization, and interpretation of law.
Develop an appreciation for international law and for non-Western legal traditions from the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and East Asia.
Understand the comparative development and practice of constitutional law in the United States and other societies.
Perceive the dynamic relationship between law, society, and politics on a local, national, and international level.
Understand the development and dynamics of legal institutions and practices in the United States and elsewhere in an increasingly globalizing world.

Note: International students who have been admitted for Fall 2020 and are unable to travel to the US may defer their admission to Spring 2021.