Law and Society (BA)

There’s more to the law than rules and regulations. Learn about the complex dynamics that shape peoples’ personal and social lives and how they intersect with law and the legal system. Discover how social factors, including power, colonialism, money, culture, and race, influence how laws are made and practiced in Laurier Brantford's Law and Society program.

Analyze how the law may help relieve or reinforce power, inequality, and discrimination, and the ways in which social movements have both used and challenged legal system in their fight for justice.

Program Details

Degree Highlights

Your future professors work hard to make sure your academic experience is current, complete and designed to open doors in your career. Here are a few things you can count on:  

  • Practice-based Curriculum: Courses combine theoretical approaches with critical framework, allowing you to develop essential skills to succeed beyond the classroom
  • Mixed-Method Research: Students will learn research and communications skills necessary for future employment and postgraduate studies. You will have the opportunity to do oral presentations and write longer research-intensive essays. 
  • Politics & Public Policy Specialization: Critically engage with the important political processes, systems and institutions that shape the world. With the Politics & Public Policy option and specialization you will see how law is influenced by political forces and the dynamics of public policy development and implementation.
  • Pathway to Law School: You can also pair your Law and Society (BA) degree from Laurier with a Law (LLB) degree from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) through our six-year pathway program.

Top Experiences

Here are just a few of our students’ favourite ways to apply their learning in the real world throughout their degree (check out the Experience Guide for even more!):

  • Research Assistantship: Earn a research or instructional assistantship position applying your learning while assisting a professor from the Law and Society program.
  • Pursue Your Passions: Complete a directed studies course in your fourth year, studying a topic that interests you.
  • Become a Member: Become a student member of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association and/or Ontario Bar Association.
  • Get Involved: Join student clubs such as the Law & Society Students' Association, Laurier Moot Court, or Student Rights Advisory Committee and build leadership skills through joining an executive team.
  • Competitions: Showcase your work for the public and Laurier community at the Academic, Creative and Engaged Research Showcase (ACERS). 

Courses, Options and Pathways

First-Year Core Courses

  • Introduction to Law and Society
  • Introduction to Law and Society II

Sample First-Year Electives

  • History Detectives 
  • Introduction to Indigenous Studies
  • Introduction to Human Rights
  • Politics within Borders 

Sample Upper-Year Courses

  • Compassion, Justice and the Law
  • Gender, Sexuality, and Law
  • Indigenous Forms of Justice
  • International Law
  • Labour Law
  • Law and the Environment
  • Politics and Government in Canada
  • Sentencing Law

Options and Minors

These are a few of the many popular academic opportunities which allow you to dive deeper into your major area of study or broaden your knowledge:

  • Politics and Public Policy Option 
  • Indigenous Studies Minor 
  • Human Rights Minor 
  • Social and Environmental Justice Minor 
  • Criminology Minor 
  • Issue Advocacy Option 
  • International Policy Option

Check out other options to enhance your degree.

Combinations

Expand your field of expertise by pairing your Law and Society major with another major:

  • Human Rights
  • Youth and Children’s Studies 
  • Criminology
  • History
  • English 

Law School Pathway

In this direct-entry program, apply on OUAC to the BA + Sussex Law pathway to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laurier and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom in six years.

Check out other pathways to and from Laurier.

Admissions

  • Format: full time or part time
  • Duration: four years
  • Start: September (fall term), January (winter term) or May (spring term)
  • OUAC codes: UVT (Law and Society); ULL (Sussex Law Pathway)

Your Career Awaits

It’s not only about the journey; it’s about the destination. Let us help you get to where you’re going.

Here are just some examples of our graduates' destinations. What’s yours?

Sample Career Options

Note: Additional training and education may be required.

  • assistant legal counsel 
  • child protection worker 
  • community worker 
  • fundraiser 
  • government administrator 
  • court reporter 
  • human rights advocate 
  • immigration officer 
  • law clerk 
  • lawyer 
  • legal aid worker 
  • labour relations specialist 
  • paralegal 
  • policy researcher 
  • police and probation officer 
  • public policy advisor 
  • social policy researcher 
  • survivor/victims’ advocate 

Explore more careers.

Support After Graduation

Alumni for life means that you have access to Career and Employment Support offered at Laurier for your entire career.

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Tuition and Scholarships

Getting a university education is an investment in your future.

At Laurier, we take financial health seriously by providing a wide variety of funding opportunities for you throughout your degree, such as scholarships and bursaries, and by equipping you with the skills to manage your finances effectively in the years to come.

 

Laurier is among the top 6 percent in the Global 2000 World University Ranking

 

Laurier students engaged in hands-on learning in 2023

 

Laurier graduates employed or in post-graduate studies in 2023

Brantford Campus

The Brantford campus is woven into the downtown core of the City of Brantford and is home to more than 3,000 students. Close to great walking and biking trails, you get the best of both worlds.

There are many ways to tour our Brantford campus, whether that's on a guided tour with one of our Laurier student ambassadors, on your own using virtual reality, or even on-demand through one of our pre-recorded tours. See our campus spaces and start to picture yourself at Laurier.

Chat with Current Students

Want to know what it’s really like to be in this program? U Community is our Discord server where future Golden Hawks like you can connect with current students to get their first-hand stories and tips on living and learning at Laurier.

Connect with Us

Questions? Email chooselaurier@wlu.ca, call 548.889.8888 or see all contact information.


You Belong Here

Think this program might be the perfect fit for you and your future?