We are proud to say that the Peter A. Allard Law School offers ample opportunities to explore feminist approaches to the law within the classroom.
We have dedicated feminist law courses (see below; please note that these courses are not offered every year).
Feminist law courses (2025-2026 academic year):
LAW 307D.001: Women, Law and Social Change
This course examines the relationship between law and social change with a focus on historical and current struggles to make the legal system more responsive to the lived realities of women, taking into account differences among women and diverse gender identities.
Offered by: Professor Debra Parkes
LAW 308D.001: Feminist Legal Theory
This course explores critical engagements with law and legal reasoning from several different feminist perspectives. Taking an intersectional approach, the course engages key concepts (gender, sexuality, class, disability, race) that have informed feminist legal scholarship and feminist politics more broadly from the mid-20th century to the present.
Offered by: Professor Brenna Bhandar
LAW 352.011: Aboriginal Peoples and Canadian Law
This course builds on the module on Aboriginal and treaty rights in Constitutional Law, focusing on some issues covered in that course in more detail and looking at topics not usually covered in the constitutional law context (such as Indigenous law, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, gender discrimination under the Indian Act, matters of child and family welfare, and problems plaguing the criminal justice system)
Offered by: Professor Andrea Hilland, KC
LAW 367.001: Reproduction & Law
What is reproduction? How is reproduction regulated? What is the state’s role in promoting or discouraging certain reproductive or sexual behavior? What is the state’s role in balancing rights individuals’ rights and interests when it comes to reproduction? This course investigates the many meanings of reproduction and its regulation in Canada and beyond.
Offered by: Professor Régine Tremblay
LAW 378.001: Sexuality & Law
The seminar examines the legal and social constructions that enable the legal regulation of human sexuality and gender.
Offered by: Professor Erez Aloni
LAW 382.011: Health Law
This course will provide students with a greater understanding of law and policy issues related to health care. Students will be supported to analyze how the health care system intersects with legal rights and obligations at both a societal and individual level, with particular attention to the unique barriers faced by different marginalized populations, including Indigenous people, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ people, women, and newcomers to Canada.
Offered by Deanna Fedio and Krista James
LAW 401: Penal Policy
This seminar is designed to give students an understanding of that part of the criminal justice system about which most lawyers know the least - the prison. The seminar will investigate the historical evolution of the prison and critically examine the central role that punishment (particularly through incarceration) plays in Canadian criminal law and society. The seminar will consider the evolution of constitutional and other legal principles and case law governing incarceration, with particular attention to prisoners’ rights, oversight and accountability of imprisonment, and avenues for advocacy.
Offered by Professor Debra Parkes
LAW 402: The Law of Sexual Offences
This seminar will explore current issues in the criminal law of sexual offences.
Offered by: Professor Janine Benedet
Feminist law courses offered in past years:
Law 351: Topics in Human Rights: Human Trafficking
Seminar exploring the rapidly growing phenomenon of human trafficking and considering the history, theory, and practice of addressing human trafficking through the law. Readings and discussions touch upon themes of sex, gender, human rights, race, colonialism, capitalism, globalization, migration and labour exploitation.
Previously offered by Professor Nicole Barrett in 2023-2024
LAW 349: Law and Inequality
This seminar explored the relationship between law and inequality, asking questions such as 'what role might law play in reinforcing and redressing different forms of inequality, including along the lines of race, class, gender, and sexuality'?
Previously offered by: Professor Yuvraj Joshi in 2021-2022
LAW 308: Feminist Legal Theory
Recent developments in feminist legal theory.
Previously offered by: Professor Emerita Susan Boyd in 2013-2014
LAW 342: Topics In Comparative Law: Feminist and Queer Legal Theory
This seminar explored feminist theory and queer theory, and their relevance in law and application to law.
Previously offered by: Professor Régine Tremblay in 2018-2019
LAW 365: Women, Law and Family
Feminist and other critical perspectives on the relationship between unequal gender relations and laws embodying a concept of "family".
Previously offered by: Kasari Govender and Laura Track in 2014-2015
We also have upper-year courses that are taught by our feminist faculty members, which vary each year. These include:
- Jurisprudence & Critical Perspectives
- Ethics & Professionalism
- Family Law
- Labour Law
- Business Organizations
- Evidence
- Social Welfare Law
- Constitutional Law
