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 (2023-2024 Academic Year)
Law 308: 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 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.
Offered by: Professor Nicole Barrett
LAW 401: Penal Policy
A seminar that evaluates and analyzes the prison system and the role of punishment in the Canadian Criminal Law system through an intersectional, anti-carceral feminist lens.
Offered by: Professor Debra Parkes
Feminist law courses offered in past years:
LAW 307: Women, Law and Social Change
This course examined 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.
Previously offered by: Professor Debra Parkes in 2021-2022
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: 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
LAW 402: The Law of Sexual Offences
This seminar explored current issues in the criminal law of sexual offences.
Previously offered by: Professor Janine Benedet in 2015-2016
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
- Corporations
- Evidence
- Social Welfare Law
- Constitutional Law
