Undergraduate Certificate in Law and Society
The Law and Society certificate allows students who have an academic or pre-professional interest in legal education, socio-legal studies, criminology, and law enforcement to explore legal phenomena from different disciplinary perspectives. Instructors are drawn from political science, American studies, anthropology, business, communications, economics, ethnic studies, Hawaiian studies, history, law, philosophy, sociology, and women's studies. The certificate program is designed to provide a multidisciplinary framework to enhance studies of law within cultural and social science perspectives.
What Questions Animate Law and Society?
- How does a social complaint become a legal matter?
- How do juries decide the price of civil justice?
- What is the consequence of free or affordable attorneys for the poor?
- In what ways is law biased towards men?
- What helps explain the incarceration rates in different countries?
- Why do so many criminal cases end in plea bargains?
- What is justice, and how is it codified?
- How have colonized people accepted and rejected Western law?
- What can we learn about law from film and television?
- What explains Americans’ change attitudes towards capital punishment?
- Who polices the police?
- Is mediation a more effective way of achieving justice than going to court?
- What shapes beliefs that Americans are sue-happy?
- How do judges interpret the law?
- What inspires social movements to use the law for social change?
- Are human rights instruments enforceable?
Entry Requirements
To enter the certificate program, students should have:
- An interest in the study of legal phenomena, and
- a GPA of at least 2.5
Coursework Requirements
Students are required to take a total of 5 classes (15 credits). Students must achieve at least a 2.5 GPA in the five certificate courses. Students may not count certificate courses towards their major or minor requirements.
1. Core Course (students may enroll through either department)
- POLS 374: Law, Politics and Society (3), or
- SOC 374: Law, Politics and Society (3)
2. Electives
Students must complete four additional courses (12 credits) from the following list of eligible elective courses. See UH Catalog for course descriptions.
Elective Courses
American Studies
- AMST 365: History of American Workers
- AMST 431/HIST 477: American Labor History
- AMST 435: History of Crime and Punishment
- AMST 436/POLS 436/WS 436: Gender, Justice and Law
College of Business Administration
- BLAW 200: Legal Environment of Business
School of Communications
- COM 451: Communications and Law
Economics
- ECON 476: Law and Economics
Ethnic Studies
- ES 340: Land Tenure and Use in Hawai‘i
- ES 410: Race, Class and the Law
Hawaiian Studies
- HWST 440: Mahele Land Awards
- HWST 445: Hawaiian Institutions
- HWST 495: Kumu Kanawai: Western Law and Hawai‘i
- HWST 496: Kanawai II: Practical Application of Rights
History
- HIST 475: Constitutional History of the U.S.
- HIST 477/AMST 431: History of American Workers
Philosophy
- PHIL 317: Critical Thinking: Pre–Law
- PHIL 318: Philosophy of Law
Political Science
- POLS 317: International Law
- POLS 367: Disability Law and Politics
- POLS 375: Constitutional Law I: Institutional Power
- POLS 376: Constitutional Law II: Rights and Liberties
- POLS 377: Topics in Law and Politics
- POLS 378: Topics in American Politics
- POLS 393: Advanced Topics in Law, Policy, and Society
- POLS 436/AMST 436/WS 436: Gender, Justice and Law
Sociology
- SOC 231: Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency
- SOC 333: Survey of Criminology
- SOC 335: Survey of Drugs and Society
- SOC 336: Deviant Behavior and Social Control
- SOC 431: Analysis in Criminology/Juvenile Delinquency
- SOC 432: Analysis in Corrections
- SOC 435/WS 435: Women and Crime
Women's Studies
- WS 435/SOC 435: Women and Crime
- WS 436/AMST 436/POLS 436: Gender, Justice and Law
Next Steps
Students should reach out to certificate faculty advisors to discuss course selections and explore intellectual interests and plans. Faculty advisors include:
- Jonathan Goldberg-Hiller, Professor, Department of Political Science
- Katharina Heyer, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
- David Johnson, Professor, Department of Sociology
- Kathleen M. Sands, Associate Professor, Department of American Studies
The semester before graduation, students should submit a Certificate Requirement Form available from the Department of Political Science for verification and signatures from certificate faculty advisors.
For inquiries on undergraduate study, see Undergraduate Advising.