Legal Field Studies: CFS 394-0 (formerly 394-1&-2)
Course Type: 1-4 credits
(Please note: This course was formerly offered for 4 credits only during the academic year and 2-4 credits in the summer only, but we are now offering it for 1-4 credits, as a pilot program beginning Spring 2024 through Summer 2024)
For Weinberg students who started at Northwestern before Summer 2023, this class will count one credit toward Weinberg Distribution Requirement for Area III: Social and Behavioral Sciences.
For Weinberg students who started at Northwestern in or after Summer 2023 (including transfer students), this course currently does not count toward any Foundational Disciplines or WCAS requirements. For students in other NU schools, please talk with your academic advisor to see if this or other CFS classes count towards any requirements for you.
Course Description
What is law? Who makes it and decides what it is? Who are legal practitioners and what do they do? What role do race, class, and power play and how do they affect the law, our own practice, legal education, and our vision of the past, present, and future?
Students in the Legal Field Studies concentration participate in two classes: Organizational Culture & Legal Process and Contemporary Issues in Law. These classes examine the intersection of law, culture, and society in the United States. This course provides an overview of the legal system, including topics such as:
- The history of law and practice in United States
- The law in your life
- Are the systems currently in place discriminatory?
- The attorney’s toolbox
- Legal strategy
- Ethical decision making - what does it mean?
- Examination of international laws and how international laws and systems interact with the US
- Benefits and disadvantages of a legal education
- The law and other disciplines
Instructor: Sarah Silins
Types of Internships that relate to the Legal Field Studies course: