GENDER AND LAW

This course will analyze ways that law and policy in the United States construct and regulate gender.  We will explore some of the general themes and debates that have emerged as feminists seek to understand and critique law’s explicit and implicit constructions of gender as they relate to various groups of individuals, including those who identify as women, men, nonbinary, gender queer, or otherwise.  We also will discuss specific applications of feminist theory to law and social policy, including topics related to work and wealth distribution, intimate and familial relationships, the race of gender and the gender of race, identity performance and constraints on agency, the regulation of sexuality, and various forms of violence.  Throughout the semester, students will be expected to engage in their own legal and theoretical analyses, both in writing and during class discussions.