The subject of law as a field worthy of study is widely acknowledged at The University of Tulsa but until now has been accessible mainly to J.D. and LL.M. students who pursue a professional degree in the College of Law or to undergraduates who take courses that include legal subject matter but typically are ancillary to a chosen concentration in the humanities or business. The law is much more than either of these applications. Instead, it provides a way to think through a different intellectual lens about the evolution of society and the problems that threaten fairness, justice and inclusiveness in society.
Students learn fundamentals, applications and policy dimensions of law, as part of their larger TU experience, and may also make use of the minor as a preparation for law school. A number of students who have taken our minor have gone on to law school at TU or elsewhere.
Program information in the Course Bulletin
The undergraduate Law, Policy and Social Justice Minor at The University of Tulsa College of Law has the general aim of making the law a centerpiece for an interdisciplinary inquiry into the diverse ways in which cultures-notably, but not exclusively, American society-have sought to achieve order and justice through appeals to recognized authority.
The Law, Policy and Social Justice Minor enables students to explore law as a diverse human effort to achieve collective order without sacrificing individuality or the freedoms of discrete and insular minorities. The use of law as an instrument of policy for effecting change and improvement in human societies is examined in historical and present-day contexts, and in descriptive and normative modes of inquiry. Areas that students may pursue through coursework in the minor include, for example, morality, responsibility, theories of punishment, the American legal system, international law, legal and political philosophy, literature, sports, the death penalty, sex crimes, climate and the environment, copyrights and intellectual property, and the internet as a space both for self-expression and for piracy and other controversial activities.