| Description: | The law school began with a focus on law as a social process, the importance of public law, and the value of an interdisciplinary approach to the solution of legal and social problems. From the first day students arrive at law school, the Faculty emphasizes the importance of understanding law in its social context. The introductory Legal Process course provides a framework for legal study, which emphasizes the fact that law can only be understood in its social context — as the product of cultural, economic and other social forces.
Law is studied for the impact that it has on people’s lives and the way it fulfills its promises of justice. Throughout the curriculum, students are encouraged to take a critical approach to their legal studies, addressing not only what the law is, but also why it is the way it is and whether it might be different. Students are encouraged also to reflect on their own roles in relation to the law, and the responsibilities that accompany legal knowledge. An appreciation of the importance of understanding law in action is reflected in the law school’s clinical and cooperative education programs. |