Law and Society is an interdisciplinary minor that provides students the opportunity to study law and its relationship to society in a manner emblematic of a liberal arts education. The minor offers the flexibility that enables students to devise a program of study suited to their particular educational and professional interests. Approved courses in Law and Society examine an array of topics, including legal principles and process, legal reasoning skills, the philosophical foundations of individual rights and responsibilities, the rule of law, constitutional government, the distinctive character of criminal justice, the tension between law and morality, international law, human rights, law and justice, anti-discrimination, policing and mass incarceration, the judicial process, and the history, sociology, and philosophy of crime and punishment.

Erin Dolgoy, Departments of Politics and Law and Philosophy (Chair of Law and Society Minor)

Stephen Ceccoli, Department of International Studies 

Daniel Cullen, Department of Philosophy

Sarah Ifft Decker, Department of History 

Anna Eldridge, Department of Politics and Law, Director of Mock Trial, Law School Admissions Advisor

Stephanie Elsky, Department of English

Steve Haynes, Department of Religious Studies

Connor Kianpour, Department of Philosophy

McKinley Melton, Africana Studies 

Jared Millson, Department of Philosophy

Earl Wright II, Department of Anthropology and Sociology

A total of 20-credits of approved Law and Society courses as follows:

1. At least one 300-level or 400-level course from the approved course list.
2. At least one approved course from three different Departments or Programs.
3. Students may count up-to-four credits of approved Law and Society experiential learning towards their minor requirements (internship, F11).
4. Students may count up-to-four credits of relevant Directed Inquiry towards their minor requirements, approved by the minor chair.
5. Introductory courses cannot be counted towards the Law & Society minor.

Approved Classes from Educational Studies

EDUC 265/PLAW 285: Schools and the US Constitution

EDUC 410: Inclusive Education

Approved Classes from English

ENGL 324: Renaissance Law and Literature 

Approved Classes from History

HIST 243: the Civil Rights Movement 

HIST 258: Politics of Abortion in the U.S. 

HIST 365: Infinite Border: US and Mexico in Historical Perspective

HIST 412: Law, Power, and Violence in the Middle Ages 

Approved Classes from International Studies

INTS 310: Comparative Political Economy 

INTS 336: International Human Rights 

INTS 452: International Law 

Approved Classes from Philosophy

PHIL 200: Critical Reasoning 

PHIL 216: Philosophy of Law 

PHIL 222: Ethics 

PHIL 228: Ethics in Action (2-credits)

PHIL 322: Medical Ethics 

PHIL 347: Children and the State 

Approved Classes from Politics & Law

PLAW 206: Urban Politics and Policy  

PLAW 264: Rights of the Accused 

PLAW 265: Justice in the Courts (2-credits) 

PLAW 283: Topics in Public Law  

PLAW 284 (previously listed as PLAW 283): Supreme Court Seminar 

EDUC 265/PLAW 285: Schools and the US Constitution 

PLAW 301: Civil Liberties 

PLAW 387 (previously listed as PLAW 380): Environmental Law and Policy in the United States  

PLAW 388 (previously listed as PLAW 380): Voting Law and Policy in the United States 

Approved Classes from Religious Studies

RELS 232: Mass Incarceration 

Approved Experiential Learning Classes

BUS 200: Taxation/Working Poor 

PHIL 229: Ethics Bowl Practicum (2-credits) 

PLAW 262: Trial Procedure

PLAW 263: Mock Trial Participation

PLAW 266: Just City and the Memphis Court System (2-credits)