Civil rights and equality
What does equality mean? And how can – or should – the law enforce or encourage it? The courses listed below let you explore these foundational questions from a variety of perspective. Some courses focus on the rules that govern action by the state itself, such as rules regarding voting rights; other courses introduce and analyze the laws that govern how private entities – such as employers or landlords – treat individuals. And clinics offer you the opportunity to represent clients seeking to enforce their own civil rights.
Of course, some of the most important legal rules regarding civil rights and equality are established by the Constitution; those courses are described separately. The courses in this section focus on statutory or regulatory provisions that go beyond the floor established by constitutional provisions.
In addition to taking a variety of the courses listed below, students interested in this area should also consider taking courses in the Administrative Law and Government Regulation Area of Focus. Those courses explain the rules that govern interpretation of statutes and regulations and the process by which the rules have been developed.
Courses
- B659: American Legal History
- B781: Children and the Law
- B580: Civil Rights Statutes
- B606: Constitutional Litigation
- B680: Employment Discrimination
- B789: Feminist Jurisprudence
- B568: Gender and the Law
- B793: Human Rights
- B669: Immigration Law
- B658: Law and Education: Advanced School Law
- B658: Law and Education: Higher Education
- B658: Law and Education: Leadership in Special Education
- B658: Law and Education: Legal Perspectives on Education
- B658: Law and Education: Workshop on Probs in Ed Leadership
- B744: Law and Social Psychology
- B539: Lawyering in the Public Interest
- B643: Poverty Law
- B756: Race, American Society, and the Law
- L766: Seminar in Children and the Law
- L770: Seminar in Comparative Inequality
Clinics and externships
- B553: Disability Law Clinic
- B547: Public Interest Externship Program
- B538: Washington Public Interest Program
Student activities and opportunities
- American Constitutional Society (ACS)
- Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA)
- Black Law Student Association (BLSA)
- Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
- Feminist Law Forum
- Jewish Law Students Association
- Labor and Employment Law Society
- Latino Law Student Association
- Outlaw
- Women’s Law Caucus
Projects
Student-run projects provide an opportunity for valuable practice experience with a defined time commitment. Academic credit is not granted for participation in these projects.
Faculty
- Kevin Brown
- Steve Conrad
- Luis Fuentes-Rohwer
- Sarah Jane Hughes
- Jay Krishnan
- Christiana Ochoa
- Deborah Widiss
- David Williams
- Susan Williams
Adjunct faculty
- Stephanie Boys
- Roger Levesque
- Catherine Matthews