Certificate in Law and Social Justice

The Law and Social Justice Certificate provides you with an opportunity to study the relationship between the law and society. An important goal of the certificate is to stimulate critical thinking about the dynamic interaction between the law and political, sociological, historical, economic, religious and other factors in society.

The certificate centres on how the law is shaped and influenced by a society's values and institutions, and in turn, how the law's application serves to shape that society. The range of courses in the Law and Social Justice certificate enables you to study various societies around the world, in addition to Quebec and Canada. Essentially, the focus of the program is on why we have the laws and legal institutions that we do and what purposes they are supposed to serve.

Certificate Requirements

Course Requirements

You will be required

  • to complete successfully a total of 5 eligible courses
  • to choose 4 of the 5 eligible courses from a minimum of 3 disciplines in the Social Science Area
  • to write a research paper or complete a project in each of the 5 courses on a topic pertinent to Law and Social Justice mutually agreed upon by you and your instructor
  • to participate in extra-curricular activities related to legal and social issues

Courses in the following disciplines are eligible for the Law and Social Justice Certificate:

        • Administration
        • Anthropology
        • Economics
        • English
        • French, second language
        • Geography
        • History
        • Humanities
        • Philosophy
        • Political Science
        • Psychology
        • Religious Studies
        • Sociology
Extra-curricular Activities

Students enrolled in the certificate are required to attend the events scheduled during each semester. These will include:

  • participating in student forums on legal issues of the day;
  • attending and participating in seminars and lectures by guest speakers;
  • participating in simulated court cases.
Certificate with Distinction

At the end of the year, the certificate coordinators will review the research papers, projects and grades received and will grant recognition of "distinction" to those students whose average grade in the 5 certificate courses is an A.

For further information, please contact Professor Ted Skaperdas.