Curriculum

NOTE: Since curricular requirements are reviewed and updated each academic year, you are required to complete the requirements that were in force in the year in which you affiliated. The following requirements apply to students who will affiliate with the Center in the spring of 2013. For students who affiliated in the spring of 2012 or earlier, please click here to review your requirements.


JAC CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS (Spring 2013 Affiliates)
To download a PDF of the following requirements, please click here.

The Justice Action Center curriculum is designed to develop an interest in lawyering for justice, a sense of shared experience among JAC faculty and students, an awareness of problems faced by lawyers involved with social justice issues, and the ability to think critically about them. The JAC curriculum has three components: two required courses, a concentration in a particular area of social justice law, and an annual Center community requirement. To complete the JAC affiliation successfully, students are required to:

  1. Complete a JAC gateway course;
  2. Satisfy the concentration requirements in a particular area of social justice law;
  3. Participate in the Center's educational and social activities; and
  4. Fulfill the JAC capstone requirement in the final year of enrollment.

These requirements are described below. (Harlan Scholars affiliating with the Abbey Center should reference the special requirements listed under “Abbey/JAC Co-Curricular Requirements” at the bottom of this page.)


I. JUSTICE ACTION CENTER GATEWAY COURSE

All JAC students must satisfy the JAC “gateway” course requirement. The gateway course is designed to develop a sense of shared experience among JAC faculty and students, an awareness of problems faced by lawyers involved with social justice issues, and the ability to think critically about them. Day division students satisfy the requirement by enrolling in the Justice Action Center Colloquium in the fall of their second year. Evening division students satisfy it by enrolling in the Colloquium in any semester before they graduate or by enrolling in Law, Public Policy, and Social Change.

Justice Action Center Colloquium: Legal Practice for Social Change (2 credits)
The JAC Colloquium is a required, graded, two-credit seminar exclusively for JAC affiliates and taught by JAC faculty. All day division students must take the Colloquium in the fall semester of their second year. Evening division students may take the Colloquium at any time before they graduate. Through case studies, Colloquium students learn about the potential of law to effectuate social change. We will consider different approaches to social change through law, including class action litigation, individual client representation in criminal and civil contexts, legislative advocacy, and community organizing. We will consider critiques of these models and alternative approaches, and study organizations involved in social change through law.

Law, Public Policy, and Social Change (2 credits)
This course is open to all JAC students. Evening division students may take this course to satisfy the JAC gateway course requirement. This course will challenge students to consider the various roles that lawyers play in movements for social change and the political nature of litigation, judicial decisions, and social change. Students will study past and present examples of lawyers working to advance public policy, including the work conducted by lawyers to end legal segregation of the public schools, organize the Montgomery bus boycott, build the post–September 11, 2001 civil liberties movement, and organize the growing movement to reform education and public safety policies that contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline. (Although this course is open to all JAC students, it will only satisfy the gateway course requirement for evening division students.)


II. CONCENTRATIONS

Each JAC student will complete a concentration of four courses in a particular area of social justice law. Each concentration contains a list of courses students can select to satisfy the four-course requirement. Most of the concentrations divide these courses into one or more courses the student must take to satisfy the concentration (required courses) and other courses that satisfy the four-course minimum but are not required (related courses). Other concentrations simply list courses that would satisfy the four-course requirement without dividing the list into required and related courses. Required courses are introductory courses in the field. Related courses generally cover advanced subjects in the field or other relevant subjects or skills. Not every course listed in a concentration is offered every year, so students should consult with faculty about course selection. Students may also design their own concentration in consultation with and with approval from the Director. Project-based learning courses may also satisfy a concentration course requirement with approval of the Director.

There are also several courses that are relevant to any student interested in social justice law. We recommend that you take one or more of these courses, although you may not necessarily be required to take them or use them to satisfy part of your concentration. The strongly recommended courses are Administrative Law, Civil Rights Law, and Remedies.

Listed below are the Center’s pre-approved concentrations. These concentrations can also be tailored to fit a student’s particular interests or to reflect new or modified course offerings. Please click on a concentration for a complete list of course requirements:

Expand or CollapseAnti-Discrimination Law

Expand or CollapseCivil Liberties

Expand or CollapseCriminal Law

Expand or CollapseCriminal Law: Prosecution

Expand or CollapseEconomic Justice: Advocacy

Expand or CollapseEconomic Justice: Community Economic Development

Expand or CollapseEducation Law

Expand or CollapseEnvironmental Law

Expand or CollapseFamily Law

Expand or CollapseImmigration Law

Expand or CollapseInternational Human Rights Law

Expand or CollapseLabor and Employment Law

Expand or CollapseMental Disability Law

Expand or CollapseSocial Change Advocacy


III. ANNUAL COMMUNITY REQUIREMENT

JAC is more than a curricular program—it is a community of individuals dedicated to exploring the relationship between social justice and law. All student members are required to participate in JAC’s educational and social activities as part of their Center requirements. Students are required, at a minimum, to complete ten community credit-hours each year as part of their affiliation with the Center.

Students must earn six credit-hours each year in the following manner:

  • Attend two JAC-sponsored public education events (one credit-hour each);
  • Attend three capstone presentation sessions (one credit-hour each); and
  • Meet with the Director to discuss curricular and career goals (one credit-hour).

Students earn the remaining four credit-hours from among the following activities:

  • Write a blog post for the Center blog at www.justiceactioncenter.com (one credit-hour);
  • Write an article for the annual newsletter (one credit-hour);
  • Volunteer for office hours in the Center (one credit-hour per hour worked); or
  • Volunteer at a Center event (one credit-hour per hour worked).


IV. JUSTICE ACTION CENTER CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE

All JAC students must complete a capstone experience in their final year of enrollment. There are four options for completing the capstone: the JAC Capstone Project course; a project-based learning course approved by the Director; a clinic or field placement course approved by the Director; or JAC-specific work accompanying a Law Review note. Students satisfying the capstone will make a presentation of their project to members of the JAC community at the end of the school year, either as part of the particular course in which they are enrolled or through separately scheduled presentations. Students co-affiliating with JAC and another center may be able to fulfill their capstone requirement by completing the other center’s capstone course; students who would like to do so must receive prior approval from the JAC Director.

Justice Action Center Capstone Project (2 credits)
The JAC Capstone Project is a full-year, two-credit, project-based learning course that satisfies the Center’s capstone requirement. It is open only to Justice Action Center affiliates in their final year of study. The content and focus of the course will vary from year to year, but in general, students will work on social justice projects under the supervision of JAC faculty members. In some years, students will work on individual or small-group projects, including, for example, a practice manual, model legislation, regulatory comments, a policy paper, or an amicus brief. Although these projects might involve different substantive areas of the law, they will all focus on the use of law to effectuate social change. In other years, the course might focus on one project for the entire class. Information about the content of the class will be made available during registration. In years when students are working on individual projects, weekly seminar sessions will include peer review and commentary at each stage of the project (topic selection, outline, research plan, rough draft, and presentation).

Project-Based Learning Courses
Project-based learning (PBL) courses are small-group classes. Students in PBL courses work on a particular project. The following PBL courses satisfy the capstone requirement:

Administration for Children’s Services
Building a Disability Rights Information Center for Asia and the Pacific
Civil Justice Through the Courts
Community-Based Initiatives in Family Law Reform
Conservation Law and Policy
Detention in the War Against Terrorism
Education Law and Practice (not offered 2013–14)
The Guardianship Project
Immigration Law and Litigation
Racial Justice Litigation (not offered 2013–14)

Click here to view the capstone syllabus for students fulfilling the capstone requirement through a project-based learning course.

Clinics and Field Placements
Students can also satisfy the capstone requirement by enrolling in an approved clinic or field placement course. Students satisfying the capstone through a clinic or field placement will also submit a post about the subject matter of their clinic for the JAC blog. The following clinics and field placements satisfy the JAC capstone requirement:

Administrative Enforcement Clinic
Child Welfare Clinic (pending faculty approval)
Civil Rights Clinic
The Clinical Year (pending faculty approval)
Criminal Defense Clinic
Criminal Prosecution Clinic
Domestic Violence Litigation Field Placement
Elder Law Clinic
Immigration and Refugee Rights Field Placement
Legislative Advocacy Clinic
Mediation Clinic
Post-Conviction Innocence Project
Suspension Representation Clinic
Tax Planning Clinic (pending faculty approval)
Taxpayer Assistance Clinic (pending faculty approval)
Transactional Law Clinic
Wills Clinic

To view the capstone syllabus corresponding to clinics and field placements, click here.

Law Review Note Lunch Presentations
Day and evening division students completing a Law Review note in their final year of study (the third year for day division students and the fourth year for evening division students) can satisfy the capstone requirement by writing their notes and planning lunch presentations at which all Law Review students who elect this option will present their notes to a general audience. Students will plan the presentations, including developing the program, preparing an invitation list, designing the invitation, and soliciting guests. Students will also submit a post about their note for the JAC blog.

To view the capstone syllabus for students using a Law Review note to complete the capstone requirement, click here.


ABBEY/JAC CO-CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS

Harlan Scholars affiliated with the Abbey Center complete JAC requirements by following a specialized curricular program. JAC’s four requirements apply to these students with the following modifications:

  1. Complete a JAC gateway course:
    The Abbey Center Colloquium: Modern Trends in Family Law fulfills the JAC gateway course requirement in place of the Justice Action Center Colloquium: Legal Practice for Social Change for day division students and Law, Public Policy, and Social Change for evening division students.
  2. Satisfy the concentration requirements in a particular area of social justice law:
    Students fulfill the JAC concentration requirement by completing 12 credits in Family Law–related courses.
  3. Complete the Center’s annual community requirement:
    Students complete the annual community requirement through the “Time Commitment to the Abbey Center” outlined in the Abbey Center’s Associate Requirements document.
  4. Fulfill the JAC capstone requirement in the final year of enrollment:
    Abbey Center students complete the Abbey Center Capstone Project, a required, graded course exclusively for Abbey Center Associates.
    5. The above modifications do not apply to non-Harlan affiliates pursuing a joint program. Non–Harlan Scholars interested in a joint affiliation with JAC and the Abbey Center should consult with the JAC Director to devise a custom joint-curricular program.