Penn's sociology department recently announced their new law and society major.
Credit: Kylie CooperStarting this fall, the College of Arts and Sciences will offer a new law and society major.
The new major will prepare students to “identify and explain patterns of social life and human behavior by emphasizing how large-scale social phenomena (such as class, race, and gender inequality) affect the everyday experiences of individuals and vice versa,” according to the Department of Sociology.
Sociology professor Chenoa Flippen, Sociology professor and Chair Melissa Wilde, and Sociology professor Hocine Fetni wrote the proposal for the new major.
“We emphasized the importance of creating a major that would provide students with a holistic understanding of the place of law in economic, cultural, political, and social life,” Flippen wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “We believe the new major has tremendous relevance in the current political and legal environment, and that it will appeal to both students interested in legal studies and professions and to those interested in careers in the public and private sectors.”
Rising College first year Aidan Shaughnessy, who plans to go to law school, is excited about the interdisciplinary approach of the major.
“The law and society major is fitting for the large portion of our student body interested in pursuing a pre-law track,” Shaughnessy said. “I find the ‘society’ aspect of the major to provide an important interdisciplinary approach, as the curriculum aims to study not just what ‘universal laws’ are, but also how these legal systems interact with each other through a sociological lens.”
The major was created because of the popularity of the law and society minor, the course “Law and Society,” and the course “Law and Social Change,” according to Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Sociology Department Marcus Wright.
“I really think that through this major students will be able to have a very holistic approach to the intersection of law and society at a time when the rule of law is very significant in our lives,” Fetni said. “Many of our rights are being challenged in this political environment. … Americans are questioning the roles of the most significant institutions of the U.S. government. … The [law and society] major addresses this.”
Shaughnessy also appreciates how the new major will prepare students for future work in law and policy.
“The new major creates a course of study that is truly geared for those preparing for law school or policy work, especially when it comes to understanding the complexity of legal issues today, as it often goes far beyond what is constituted on paper, [such as with] reproductive rights, immigration, etc.,” Shaughnessy said.
At this time, all of the courses listed for the law and society major are part of the Sociology department, even though the law and society major and sociology major are two different degrees.
“We have to be clear in our communications to students that they are two distinctly different majors even though they are under the same department,” Wright said. “We want that sociological focus, of course, distinct from the sociology major and broken down in a way that the students are getting the kind of academic training that we felt was necessary to make the law and society major worth it to them.”
This year, the Sociology department is also starting the Practical, Experiential, Applied Research and Learning (PEARL) Initiative, providing students with an opportunity to “connect sociological theory, ideas, and concepts to experiences and practice,” according to the program’s website.
Additionally, under the PEARL Initiative, the Sociology department is beginning the Health and Healthcare Fellowship to help students learn more about the intersection of health and society through speaker and alumni panels, faculty lunches, medical-focused field trips, discussions, and career advising.
“I hope that the law and society major and some of the excitement coming from it will just attract more students to the Sociology department as a whole and some of the great things we’re doing,” Wright said. “It’s part of a larger effort to continue to make sure that the Sociology department is serving the undergraduate student population in the best way possible.”
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