Law & Society Concentration

 

 

 

Registration Form

 

List of Approved Courses
(3/8/07 revision, printable pdf format)

 

Law & Society Brochure
(7/13/07 revision, printable pdf format)

The Law & Society concentration provides an opportunity for focused study of the interaction between law and society from an interdisciplinary perspective predominantly rooted in the social sciences and humanities: anthropology, comparative literature, economics, government, history, philosophy, psychology, science and technology studies, and sociology.

The concentration is based in the College of Arts & Sciences but open to all undergraduates. Students completing the concentration will receive a certificate and a notation on their transcript, and can include their Law & Society participation on a resume or graduate school application.

In order to allow sufficient time for a coherent program of study to be developed and completed, students who have an interest in this concentration are required to register prior to the start of the second semester of their junior year. Under extenuating circumstances, late registrations may be accepted at the discretion of the directors, but only if the registrant has a clear and acceptable plan already formulated for completing the concentration's requirements.

The standard Law & Society registration form is available online (click on the link above) and in the Ethics & Public Life (EPL) office, 240 Goldwin Smith Hall. As part of the registration process, each student will list qualifying courses already completed and courses intended to be taken to fulfill the course requirement. An acknowledgment is sent on receipt of the online registration form, followed a short time later by a "welcome e-mail" that includes the name and contact information of the student's assigned advisor, who is available to provide guidance with the course selection process and help with other questions and concerns related to the concentration.

FOUR-EVENT REQUIREMENT
Many students find access to and participation in Law & Society events a particularly beneficial component of the concentration. Officially registered Law & Society students are notified of "qualifying" events (usually 20+ per semester) and other news related to the concentration through an e-mail listserve and postings outside the Ethics and Public Life office. Attendance at a minimum of four events total (tracked with sign-in sheets) is required during the time period between registration and graduation; students seeking a broader perspective are encouraged to attend as many events as they are able.

FOUR-COURSE REQUIREMENT
Law & Society is an interdisciplinary concentration requiring students to successfully complete four courses (at least 12 credits) from the approved course list, earning a letter grade no lower than C- in each. (NOTE: Effective January 1, 2008, the minimum grade accepted will be C+.) Of the four qualifying courses, no more than 2 can be in the same subject area (e.g., Government, ILR). Appropriate courses taken prior to registering for the Law & Society concentration can be counted toward the four-course requirement, and cross listed courses can be counted as any of their cross listings. There are no required courses, but past students have found GOVT 313 and PSYCH 265 particularly relevant.

At the discretion of the Law & Society directors, permission may be granted to substitute an appropriate course that has been:
1. accepted from another educational institution toward the student's degree program (1 course maximum)
2. taken as part of a semester abroad program
3. recently added to the Cornell curriculum

The best evidence of a course's appropriateness is the syllabus, which is often available online and can be submitted electronically to the directors for their determination. Petitions for course substitutions must be submitted prior to the student's final semester.

To facilitate tracking of courses taken/events attended, a printable Student Progress Record can be accessed electronically or obtained as a preprinted form from the EPL office. A Completion Plan must be submitted by the end of the next-to-last semester with a plan for completing any remaining requirements.

The Law & Society concentration is administered by the Ethics and Public Life (EPL) office. For more information, contact the EPL Administrative Assistant at 240 Goldwin Smith Hall, epl@cornell.edu, or 607-255-8515.

Law & Society Co-Directors and Faculty Advisors
(7/18/07 revision, printable pdf format)

The Law and Society Program is an activity of the Program on Ethics and Public Life. Last web page update: 7/18/07

Cornell undergraduates interested in applying to law school should refer to the Cornell Career Services web page