Faculty of Arts Socio-Legal Studies

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Faculty of Arts

Table of Contents

1. Time commitment to study
2. Requirements for a major
3. Honours entry
    3.1. Prerequisites
    3.2. Application procedures
4. Pure honours
5. Further study
6. For more information
Subject Lists
    First-year subject
    Second/third-year subjects
        Third-year subject
    Fourth-year subjects
    Fourth-year/postgraduate subject

The Faculty of Arts offers an interdisciplinary major in socio-legal studies. This program is designed to provide Bachelor of Arts students with an opportunity to examine law in its societal, political, and cultural context. It will appeal to students who wish to use the methods and perspectives of various academic disciplines to study legal issues and to use the conceptual framework of the law to illuminate empirical and theoretical concerns in the various disciplines. The program is not designed to prepare students for law school nor does it provide paralegal training. It is a field of study within the Faculty of Arts curriculum which helps students develop their ability to think clearly and to analyse arguments critically. It provides sound preparation for a variety of activities including teaching, public and social policy, public advocacy, business administration and government.

There are no prerequisites for first-year subjects in socio-legal studies.

The prerequisite for entry into second-year socio-legal studies subjects is usually the completion of 25 points of arts subjects at first year including the core subject 191-110 Law in Society. The prerequisite for entry into third-year socio-legal studies subjects is usually three second-year subjects in socio-legal studies (37.5 points) including the core subjects 166-215 Rights and the Law and 191-211 Law, Justice and Social Change.

1. Time commitment to study

As well as scheduled contact hours for lectures, tutorial and seminars a considerable additional time commitment is needed to complete the academic requirements of each subject.

A subject-specific time commitment to study will be provided by your lecturer or tutor at the beginning of semester to help you schedule your workload and successfully manage your time during the semester. In addition, general estimates of the total time commitment required to study a 12.5-point single semester subject in the Faculty of Arts can be found on Time commitment to study.

2. Requirements for a major

A major in socio-legal studies consists of nine 12.5 point subjects totalling 112.5 points. It comprises:

• two first-year arts subjects (25 points) including 191-110 Law in Society; and

• three socio-legal subjects at second-year level (37.5 points) including 191-211 Law, Justice and Social Change and 166-215 Rights and the Law; and

• four socio-legal studies subjects at third-year level (50 points) including 191-301 Law in Social Theory.

3. Honours entry

Honours Coordinator: Dr Jennifer Balint

3.1. Prerequisites

The prerequisites for entry to fourth-year honours in socio-legal studies are:

• completion of all the requirements of the BA; and

• completion of a major in socio-legal studies; and

• an average grade of H2A or higher over the second/third-year subjects within the major.

3.2. Application procedures

Students intending to undertake their thesis in socio-legal studies will be required to submit a research proposal of at least 1000 words as part of their application.

Honours students are encouraged to attend the department's research support seminar series program held in semester two.

For information on how to apply see Applying for Honours.

4. Pure honours

Students undertaking pure honours in socio-legal studies must complete:

• 191-517 Socio-Legal Studies Thesis;

• 191-530 Criminology Thesis Seminar;

• two elective subjects chosen from the list below;

and either

• 191-424 Supervised Field Study;

  or

• two elective subjects chosen from the list below.

5. Further study

The socio-legal studies program includes the following courses for graduates:

• Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Socio-Legal Studies)

• Master of Arts (Socio-Legal Studies)

• Doctor of Philosophy

6. For more information

Department of Criminology
234 Queensberry Street
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Tel: +61 3 8344 9440
Fax. +61 3 9349 4259
Email: sociolegal-info@unimelb.edu.au
Web: http://www.sociolegal.unimelb.edu.au

First-year subject

191-110 Law in Society

Second/third-year subjects

191-211 Law, Justice and Social Change
166-215 Rights and the Law

Third-year subject

Fourth-year subjects

191-517 Socio-Legal Studies Thesis
191-530 Criminology Thesis Seminar

Fourth-year/postgraduate subject

191-537 Genocide, State Crime and the Law

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