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Department of Social Science Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
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LASO Courses

Browse through the database below to explore courses that will fulfill certain degree requirements in the Law & Society program.

When registering for classes on the Course Timetable website, be sure to carefully read through the "Notes/Additional Fees" section of each course you select.

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Enrolment Information

In order to avoid disappointment, please enrol into courses as soon as your assigned enrolment period allows. Enrolment dates are made available in late April. Classes fill up very quickly and once they are full we are not permitted to over-enroll courses.

General Education Requirements as of September 2014

All LA&PS students will be required to take a minimum of 21 General Education credits from the approved list of LA&PS General Education courses.

To fulfill the Liberal Arts & Professional Studies General Education requirements students must take 21 credits of general education including:

  • 6.00 credits in Natural Science (NATS)
  • A 9.00 credit approved general education course in the social science or humanities categories
  • And a 6.00 credit approved general education course in the opposite category to the 9.00 credit course in social science or humanities already taken.

As of September 2014, students taking AP/SOSC 1350 9.0 or any GEN ED course on the Extended List must choose whether to count it towards their general education requirements or their major requirements. It cannot be counted towards both.

  • Pre-2014, all 9-credit GEN ED courses that are included in either the CORE or EXTENDED lists of approved Law & Society courses will count as 6 credits toward your Law & Society program requirements. The remaining 3 credits will count towards the total number of credits for your degree.
  • A maximum of one General Education course may be counted toward the Law & Society degree requirements.

For advising on General Education courses, please make an appointment with the Social Science Student Advisor 416-736-5054.

Prerequisites/co-requisites must be successfully completed before another course can be taken. They are listed in the course description and available online from the York Courses Web site or in the departmental Undergraduate Handbooks.

  • Access to 4000-level Law & Society Honours Seminar courses is reserved for Law & Society majors who have completed the equivalent of 84 credits by the end of the F/W academic term. No exceptions!
  • If you meet the enrolment requirements for the Honours Seminar courses and are unable to enrol in any of the seminar options online, please contact the LASO Program Coordinator or the Program Assistant as soon as possible.
  • Each student is only required to take ONE Honours Seminar as part of the LASO program requirements. The second required 4000-level course can/should come from the extended list of course offerings. Again, once a course is full, we are not permitted to over-enrol.
  • Majors may take a maximum of two 4000-Level Honours Seminar Courses.
  • Please see page 14 for Upper-Level Requirement details.

Change of major online applications will be accepted starting February 1 to May 1. Please email laso@yorku.ca to let us know that you have applied.

Students applying to change their major to Law & Society must have a minimum Overall GPA of 5.0 and have a minimum of 18 credits earned. Having a GPA of 5.0 does not guarantee admission as spaces in the program are limited and will be awarded competitively based on GPA.

We will be reviewing all requests to transfer into Law & Society in mid-May, once final grades are released. At that time, if your request is successful, you will be advised to set up an advising appointment.

As noted above, Law & Society is an Honours only degree, therefore, students must have a minimum Overall GPA of 5.0 to stay in the program as well as achieve a C+ grade in AP/SOSC 2350 6.0

Law & Society does not offer a 90 credit BA. It is an Honours degree only.

Search our Courses

AP/SOSC 1350 9.00
Gender And The Law

This course explores the role of gender within the context of Canadian law. Using a feminist socio-legal perspective to situate the law in its larger social context, attention is paid to the intersectional production of ...

AP/SOSC 1375 3.00
Introduction to Socio-Legal Studies

This introductory course will provide an overview of several major themes in the interdisciplinary field of socio- legal studies, including law and social justice, social science and legal knowledge, law and social change, and law, ...

AP/HUMA 1825 9.00
Law And Morality

Examines aspects of the relationships between law and morality in literary, filmic and philosophical works from Ancient Greece to the Modern Word and in several modern court cases.

AP/PHIL 2060 3.00
Social And Political Philosophy

An introduction to philosophy focusing on problems concerning the nature of society, the nature of the state, justice and human rights, freedom and censorship, etc.

AP/PHIL 2070 3.00
Introductory Ethics

A basic introduction both to the major ethical theories in Western thought and to some basic metaethical questions concerning the possibility of moral truth.

AP/PHIL 2075 3.00
Introduction To Applied Ethics

An introduction to ethics focusing on the application of ethical theories to controversial public issues such as abortion, affirmative action and euthanasia, among others.

AP/POLS 2200 3.00
Communities And Public Law

Introduces students to the Canadian legal system and the major components of public law. More specifically it examines the relationship between communities and the fundamental principles underpinning administrative law, constitutional law and criminal law.

AP/SOSC 2330 6.00
Political Economy Of Law, Policy And Organization

This course considers economics as a form of moral argument. This course considers how economists evaluate existing government policies in a broad variety of areas, including housing policies and rent control, environmental protection and gender ...

AP/SOSC 2350 6.00
Law & Society

Founders of Law & Society have said that ""law is too important to leave to lawyers"". It is from this point that the course jumps off: together we will examine law using a variety of ...

AP/SOSC 2351 6.00
Human Rights In A Socio-Legal Context

This course analyses issues and policies associated with minority status in Canada from an interdisciplinary perspective. Using International Human Rights principles as a framework, the course examines both inferiorized and stigmatized minorities, the forms of ...

AP/LING 2450 3.00
Language And The Law

Course explores ways in which the discipline of linguistics can shed light on the use of language in the legal system. Topics include the special characteristics of written legal language, spoken language in the courtroom ...

AP/HIST 2500 6.00
Canadian History

From the arrival of its first human inhabitants tens of thousands of years ago to its increasingly globalized contemporary population, Canada has undergone numerous transformations. This course will examine the history of Canada from its ...

AP/SOSC 2652 6.00
Criminal Justice System

Crosslisted: AP/CRIM 2652 This course is designed to introduce students to the stages of the Canadian criminal justice system, and to selected issues and debates in the administration of justice. Drawing on criminological, sociological and ...

AP/POLS 3075 3.00
Law, Justice And Jurisprudence

This course deals with the theories and principles of law and justice which underlie legal systems, with an emphasis on how these theories and principles impact on the political process. Readings draw from a variety ...

AP/PHIL 3110 3.00
Political Philosophy

An exploration of major topics in political philosophy, such as the authority of the state, the justification of private property, the nature of rights, theories of justice, and political equality.

AP/POLS 3135 3.00
The Constitution And The Courts In Canada

Crosslisted: AP/PPAS 3135, GL/POLS 3135 An examination of the Canadian court structure, judicial review of federalism, the role of courts and lawyers, and the relationship between law, politics and public policy. Using technology-enhanced learning, students ...

AP/POLS 3136 3.00
Public Law Ii: The Charter Of Rights And Freedoms

Crosslisted: AP/PPAS 3136, GL/POLS 3136 We focus on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including freedom of expression, legal rights, equality rights, language rights, aboriginal people's rights and judicial review of public administration.

AP/POLS 3190 6.00
 Public Administration

Crosslisted: AP/PPAS 3190 Examines the theory and practice of policy making and public administration as well as the machinery of government, with particular reference to Canada. It discusses who makes policy, how policy is developed ...

AP/PHIL 3190 3.00
Philosophical Issues In Constitutional Law

An exploration of philosophical issues in constitutional law. Among the topics covered are: the nature of constitutions; the value of written constitutions; theories of constitutional interpretation; judicial review and judicial activism; constitutional rights.

AP/PHIL 3195 3.00
Punishment & Responsibility

An exploration of a range of philosophical questions raised by the practice of legal punishment, including: What justifies imposing punishment upon those who break the law? What assumptions about the responsibility of individuals are implicit ...

HH/PSYC 3310 3.00
Psychology And Law

Examines the applications of psychology to legal issues and procedures. Drawing from the areas of social, cognitive, developmental and clinical psychology, the law's informal theories of human behaviour are compared to what psychologists know on ...

AP/SOSC 3360 6.00
The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms

This course examines the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms from an interdisciplinary perspective. The course begins by discussing various theories regarding the legitimacy of judicial review. This approach is carried forward in detailed analyses ...

AP/SOSC 3361 6.00
Disability And The Law:  Critical Perspectives On Disability Rights And Legislation

This course examines disability rights legislation, exploring the trajectory from civil rights to human rights frameworks, and critical interdisciplinary insights relating to the study of disability. In this course, students will scrutinize the historical, theoretical, ...

AP/SOSC 3362 6.00
Law, Medicine And Madness

This course introduces some of the key social justice issues taken up in the emergent interdisciplinary field of critical Mad Studies. In bringing together resources from case law and public policy, literature and the visual ...

AP/SOSC 3363 3.00
Research Strategies In Law & Society

This is a course in critical social science methodology, designed to improve students' abilities to read and evaluate socio-legal research. The major research methods will be studied in the course using exemplary texts and hands ...

AP/SOSC 3364 3.00
Designing Research In Law & Society

This course concentrates on the design and execution of interdisciplinary research in the field of law and society. Students will design an independent and original research project by choosing a topic, conducting a literature review, ...

AP/SOSC 3365 6.00
Privacy And The Law

Indoor bathrooms only began to appear in ordinary homes in the latter nineteenth century and were not commonplace until the twentieth. Their appearance signified more than just advances in plumbing and house design—they became important ...

AP/SOSC 3370 6.00
Section A & B Social Justice And Law

Where once “social justice” was strictly a term of laudable progressivism, in recent years it has gone to one of occasional ridicule, with pejoratives like “social justice warrior” meant to discredit and dismiss those advocating ...

AP/SOSC 3375 3.00
Socio-Legal Theories

This course offers an overview of the major contemporary theoretical perspectives in socio-legal studies.

AP/SOSC 3376 3.00
Legal Pluralism

This course introduces students to theories and methodological approaches to study the different types of interactions between multiple normative orders. It also seeks to familiarize students with contemporary debates in socio-legal studies around legal pluralism. ...

AP/SOSC 3380 6.00
Law, Labour, And The State

This course examines state regulation of relations between employers and workers by courts, legislatures, and administrative and quasi-judicial tribunals. It compares modern Canada's compulsory collective bargaining regime with the traditional legal view of master and ...

AP/SOSC 3391 6.00
Social Diversity And The Law

Participants in this seminar examine legal responses to social diversity issues. Topics include struggles within and between social groups, economic classes, cultural communities, First Nations, racialized minority groups and people with disabilities.

AP/SOSC 3392 6.00
International Perspectives In Law & Society: Ethnographies Of Rights

This course analyzes human rights from a legal anthropology perspective and reflects on anthropologists' criticisms of international human rights activism and their contributions to human rights struggles. A key theme is cultural relativism and the ...

AP/SOSC 3393 3.00
Queering Law

This course examines the ways in which law constructs lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) identities, focusing on the Canadian, American and global legal contexts. The course provides a theoretical grounding in socio-legal approaches ...

AP/SOSC 3394 3.00
Law & Games

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of law and games of all sorts: from tag, to sports, to online games. It explores what games teach us about legal processes, and what the study ...

AP/SOSC 3395 3.00
Legal Geographies

This course introduces students to the field of legal geography, which focuses on spatial and place-based aspects of law and legal regulation. By drawing from the critical perspectives of legal studies, disability studies, feminist and ...

AP/ANTH 3420 3.00
Indigenous Minorities & Human Rights

This course focuses on how nation states define majorities and minorities, and how such definitions are contested by populations striving for cultural, political and human rights. Questions include: How do people get classified as indigenous ...

AP/SOCI 3430 6.00
Ethnicity, Power And Identity

Introduces students to contemporary issues in ethnicity, power and identity in international perspective. Sociological and anthropological theories on ethnicity, race, culture and identity form the conceptual basis for this course.

AP/HREQ 3450 6.00
Law & Society: Legal Institutions And Social Justice

This course examines the impact of legal institutions on equity in civil society. Topics explored include transformative/restorative justice, racism and racial profiling, moral regulation, nation-building, and the influence of different cultural legal traditions.

AP/SOSC 3655 3.00
Policing

Examines theory and research on policing. Attention is paid to the roles of both state and non-state agencies, institutions, and professions in policing subjectivities and bodies. Students will engage with criminological debates about the role ...

AP/CRIM 3656 3.00
Punishment

Examines theory and research on punishment. Attention is paid to the roles of both state and non-state agencies, institutions, and professions in punishing subjectivities and bodies. The course reveals, examines and unsettles the prison-punishment nexus ...

AP/HIST 3850 6.00
Murder And Other Crimes: Law And Justice In 20Th Century North America

Examines the Canadian and American criminal justice systems from the mid-19th through late 20th century. The course focuses on important trials - such as Lizzie Borden (1892), the ""Scottsboro Boys"" (1931), and Steven Truscott (1959) ...

AP/SOSC 3992 6.00
Popular Trials

This course examines popular trials as events that generate public interest and as occasions for the dramatization of social norms. The conceptual tools developed in the first part of the course are used later to ...

AP/SOSC 3993 3.00
Strategies Of Social Science Research

This is a course in critical social science methodology, designed to improve students' abilities to read and evaluate social research. Among the strategies considered and compared are: ethnography; historical method; survey research; case studies; text ...

AP/POLS 4015 3.00
Theories Of Justice

An exploration of theories of justice which are at the heart of contemporary debates in political theory. This course explores various notions of justice, as well as the fundamental conditions for just societies to exist.

AP/SOSC 4043 6.00
Corporate Governance And Business Law

Examines intersections between business and the law. Particular attention is paid to the nature of the firm and corporate governance, governance structures in a comparative context, and recent and controversial issues regarding the relationship between ...

AP/PPAS 4070 6.00
Sociology Of Law

Examines social institutions and ideologies of law. The foundations and practices of law are studied in reference to the influences of capitalism, liberalism and modernity. Informed by classical and contemporary perspectives, this course examines the ...

AP/PPAS 4130 6.00
Politics, Law And The Courts

Students are introduced to the administration of justice in Canada. Its focus is on the relationship between the administration of the legal system and the outcomes of civil and criminal disputes.

AP/SOSC 4210 6.00
Labour Relations Simulation

Provides students who have academic or experiential background in industrial relations with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of collective bargaining, labour-management relationships and internal union and management decision-making processes through a year-long simulation. Prerequisite: ...

AP/POLS 4255 6.00
Issues In International Human Rights

This seminar examines the operation and efficacy of the United Nations human rights treaty system. It focuses on both the substantive law and the operational strategies associated with their implementation.

AP/ANTH 4340 6.00
Advocacy And Social Movements

Examines how modern forms of communication have totally transformed the nature of advocacy and the social construction of knowledge in modern society. Specifically, it examines ways in which cultural norms are modified by the activities ...

AP/SOSC 4350 6.00
Law And Society Honours Seminar

This course, limited to and required of law and society students, examines theories and practice relating to the interaction of law and society, depending on student and faculty interest in one or other specific topics.

AP/SOSC 4351 6.00
 Honours Seminar: Indigenous Peoples And Law

This course looks at the role of law in the lives of Indigenous people in Canada from at least three intersecting perspectives. One focus of the course examines the way in which Indigenous people view ...

AP/SOSC 4352 6.00
Honours Seminar: Social Dimensions Of Criminal Law

This course seeks to look at concepts and principles that underlie the norms of contemporary criminal law to bring out its moral and social dimensions. These concepts and principles are illustrated by analyzing selected legal ...

AP/SOSC 4353 6.00
Honours Seminar: Narratives Of Legal Responsibility

This course uses the complimentary tools of narrative studies and textual analysis to examine the relationship between art, science and law in cultural representations of legal responsibility.

AP/SOSC 4354 6.00
Law And Society Honours Seminar: Paradoxes Of Rights

Selected themes revolve around human rights and social change, including how various communities employ rights discourse as part of socio-political struggles.

AP/SOSC 4355 6.00
Honours Seminar: Gender, Sex And The Supreme Court

This course integrates the study of common law with gender and race studies to develop skills in case analysis, gender and equity studies, and legal research.

AP/SOSC 4356 6.00
Globalization, Law & Democracy

Examines the effects of globalization on law and legal authority, with a particular focus on the influence of globalization on state regulation and the international system.

AP/SOSC 4357 6.00
Honours Seminar: Explorations In Sociolegal History

This course engages students in the historical study of a topic in law and society through background reading, discussion, and exercises with historical documents. Students then propose, research, write and present research papers using archival ...

AP/SOSC 4358 6.00
Honours Seminar: Law And Sexuality

This Law and Society seminar examines the ambiguous & shifting role law plays with respect to sexuality. What is of interest to this course are those sites where legal issues, specifically harm, consent, and human ...

AP/SOSC 4359 6.00
Law And Society Honours Seminar: Law And Governance

This course is designed to integrate the Honours Program in Law and Society at the upper level. The focus of each section will reflect the particular interests of individual Instructors. Students must complete AP/SOSC 2350 ...

AP/SOSC 4360 6.00
Honours Seminar: Social Movements And Legal Mobilization

Does law matter? Do court decisions make a difference? Does legal change lead to social change? This course explores these questions through a consideration of social movements and litigation, mainly in Canada and the U.S. ...

AP/SOSC 4361 6.00
Honours Seminar: Law, Culture And Representation: On The Concept Of Transgression

This course is designed to integrate the Honours Program in Law and Society at the upper level. The focus of each section will reflect the particular interests of individual Instructors. Students must complete AP/SOSC 2350 ...

AP/SOSC 4362 6.00
Law And Society Honours Seminar: Law And Politics

This course is designed to integrate the Honours Program in Law and Society at the upper level. The focus of each section will reflect the particular interests of individual Instructors. Students must complete AP/SOSC 2350 ...

AP/SOSC 4363 6.00
Honours Seminar: Law, Citizenship And Migration

Examines the workings of law in the contested space of citizenship and migration. Concepts examined include identity, humanitarianism, nationalism, globalization and human rights. Focuses specifically on migrant agency, resistance and the role of law at ...

AP/SOSC 4364 6.00
Honours Seminar: Law, Science Proof

This honours seminar explores the debates that surround the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom and how judges, lawyers, and scholars have sought to solve the complex problems that occur when legal actors are ...

AP/SOSC 4366 6.00
Honours Seminar: Race, Law And The Politics Of Representation

"This course explores key theoretical concepts, intellectual concerns, and political debates in the study of racialization and the law. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the course examines the long durée of racial violence in the law ...

AP/SOSC 4370 6.00
State Of The Art In Law And Society

F/W 2021-2022 Mondays 2:30-5:30 pm online Co-Instructed by Natilie Richer and Kimberley White This course will unfold in two complementary parts. In the first term, students will engage with a range of scholarly and non-scholarly ...

AP/SOSC 4372 6.00
Honours Seminar: Religion, Governance and Law in a Global Context

This course explores the different ways religion and religious freedom are being governed in our contemporary world. It invites students to think critically and comparatively about the relationships between secularism and religion, and how these ...

AP/POLS 4401 3.00
Systems Of Justice

An overview of procedures in the Canadian justice system, with comparisons to other common law justice systems and some civil law systems. The course begins with a study of civil and criminal procedure, and then ...

AP/SOCI 4440 6.00
Racialization And The Law

Critically examines the relationship between law and social inequality, treating law and justice as contradictory. The focus is on the place of law in forming racialized groups, but also deals with gender, sexual orientation, class ...

AP/SOCI 4810 6.00
Women And The Criminal Justice System

This course analyzes theory and research on the incidence and treatment of child, adolescent and adult women who are offenders (e.g. theft, homicide), victims (e.g. sexual and physical assault), and professionals (e.g. police, judges) in ...

AP/SOCI 4840 6.00
Advanced Issues In Policing

Explores the institution of policing from an organizational, operational and legal perspective, including issues concerning police conduct and misconduct as a means of illuminating questions about the relationships between the public, the law, the media, ...

AP/SOCI 4850 3.00
Organized Crime

Examines national and international organized crime issues and focuses on links between organized crime and the global economy; the relationship between organized crime and social/political environments; theoretical explanations and the evolution of commodities involved in ...