Course Descriptions
LJSO 0400 Honours Seminar in Law, Justice and Society Pt 1
CREDIT HOURS: 0
The Honours seminar provides LJSO Honours Students with the opportunity to embark on a concerted independent study of their choice of topic within the interdisciplinary field of Law, Justice and Society. Students are asked to identify a supervisor/professor to oversee the development of a substantial research paper or thesis as an independent capstone project. The paper and reading list will be arranged with the professor, and approved by the Coordinator. Regular meetings will be held for LJSO Honours students, to provide an opportunity for the Honours students to engage in discussions about their research papers and projects, but the main working relationship will be between the student and the chosen supervisor.
Students must enroll in
LJSO 0400.00 and
LJSO 4000.03 in the same academic year.
LJSO 0400.00 in the Fall term will be mainly preparations for writing the thesis in the Winter term under
LJSO 4000.03.
FORMAT: Seminar
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2510.03,
LAWS 2520.03,
LJSO 3000.03, and Admission to the Honours Program
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to LJSO Honours students ONLY
LJSO 3000 Processes of Justice
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course provides an overview of the rules and procedures of Canadian Civil and Criminal Justice systems, as well as those of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative approaches to justice. It will clarify the roles of the parties, lawyers, courts, and intervenors in these different judicial systems, and give students the opportunity to apply the rules to hypothetical problems and/or various case scenarios. This course will also provide students with the tools to critically evaluate these processes in terms of access to justice, efficiency, fairness, and legitimate outcomes. An examination of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative approaches to justice will provide the opportunity to evaluate the limits of conventional retributive and adversarial approaches, and to consider their potential for reforming our understanding of justice.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2510.03/
LAWS 2520.03
LJSO 3100 Current Issues in Criminal Justice
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Topics covered within this course will vary from year to year, and may include the administration of criminal justice; crime and popular culture; racial profiling and race-based discrimination; organized crime; international criminal law; mass incarceration; and criminal procedure.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
PREREQUISITES: Must have completed 60 credit hours of study
LJSO 3200 Topics in Law and Society
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Topics covered within this course will vary from year to year, and may include alternative theories and approaches to justice; law and social media; the role of law in social inequalities; and human rights issues.
FORMAT: Lecture
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
PREREQUISITES: Must have completed 60 credit hours of study
LJSO 3500 Legal Research and Writing
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course aims to develop practical research skills, with a focus on researching the law in Nova Scotia and Canada using both print and electronic resources. It will provide students with a practical understanding of how to locate and update relevant case law, legislation and commentaries on specific topics. It will cultivate the analytical skills for students to identify the legal authorities and relevant case law to pursue specific research projects. The course will introduce students to fundamentals of legal/criminological research methods through the exploration principles, ethical and political issues, writing procedures, and various theoretical and methodological approaches involved in undertaking legal/criminological research. Students will also learn various data collection techniques and how to effectively organize and analyze both quantitative and qualitative information about legal/criminological phenomena.
FORMAT: Lecture
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2510.03 and
LAWS 2520.03
LJSO 3600 Critical Legal Studies
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This interdisciplinary seminar engages prominent debates within critical legal theory. In particular, we trace the emergence and contemporary application of critical race theory, feminist and queer theory; disability or ‘crip’ analyses; and post-colonial and decolonizing approaches to law. It will introduce students to critical perspectives on different areas of legal inquiry, such as administrative and criminal justice. The course will examine these theories and movements as they emerge in core disciplinary texts and through the subsequent discussion and debate these texts generate. We also consider the application of these critical traditions to current issues, with particular focus on the critical traditions that inform Canada's evolving legal landscape and practices.
FORMAT: Seminar
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2510.03
LJSO 4000 Honours Seminar in Law, Justice and Society - Pt 2
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Honours seminar provides LJSO Honours Students with the opportunity to embark on a concerted independent study of their choice of topic within the interdisciplinary field of Law, Justice and Society. Students are asked to identify a supervisor/professor to oversee the development of a substantial research paper or thesis as an independent capstone project. The paper and reading list will be arranged with the professor, and approved by the Coordinator. Regular meetings will be held for LJSO Honours students, to provide an opportunity for the Honours students to engage in discussions about their research papers and projects, but the main working relationship will be between the student and the chosen supervisor.
Students must enroll in
LJSO 0400.00 and
LJSO 4000.03 in the same academic year.
LJSO 0400.00 in the Fall term will be mainly preparations for writing the thesis in the Winter term under
LJSO 4000.03.
FORMAT: Seminar
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2510.03,
LAWS 2520.03,
LJSO 3000.03, and Admission to the Honours Program
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to LJSO Honours students
LJSO 4300 Ethics, Law & Society
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The aim of this advanced seminar is to examine the relationship between law (a system of authoritative rules that is typically enforced by states) and ethics (normative principles that guide ethical or just conduct). The very reference to ethics and the law speaks to possible tensions between what is lawful and what is just, that is, between actions that are legal but potentially unethical, as well as conduct that is potentially ethical but prohibited by law. We begin by studying the background sources of both ethics and law as interpreted through different disciplines and traditions. We then look more closely at specific debates touching on ethics and the law, as well as how these debates have been expressed in landmark legal cases. Readings will be drawn from legal, political, and social theory, as well as case law. By the end of the seminar, students should have a good grasp of fundamental legal concepts and be better positioned to navigate the complex relationship between ethics and the law in contemporary social and political life.
FORMAT: Seminar
LECTURE HOURS PER WEEK: 3
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2520.03 AND any one 3000-level Core LJSO course (
LJSO 3000,
HIST 3226.03,
HIST 3227.03,
POLI 3505.03, or
SOSA 3285.03)