Intro Legal Studies

Interdisciplinary exploration of basic issues of law's relationship to contemporary society, in which law affects almost all human activity. Topics include the nature as well as historical and social functions of law; the culture and role of major actors in the legal system (lawyers, judges, juries, police, technology); tension between ideals and realities in law; role of law in addressing contemporary social problems. This general education course, based on the assumption that "law is too important to be left to lawyers," is intended to foster analytical and critical skills and to discuss broad, interdisciplinary questions of individual responsibility, social morality, and justice. (Gen.Ed. SB, DU)