ANTH 037D. Engaging the Law

This class begins with two related questions: Can we engage the law to make new worlds possible? What are its limits? Each week this course will invite real-world law practitioners, from human rights lawyers to legal scholars working in and outside the U.S., to discuss ways in which their legal practice engages the law, its limits and possibilities. Using anthropological methods, students will work with the instructor to prepare a weekly panel during which they will interview our guests and reflect on the meaning of engaging with the law from different perspectives. The final project for the course will be a collaborative open-source syllabus designed by the class in response to our own learning process. This course does not require previous experience in anthropology and is particularly well-suited for pre-law students as well as those interested in law, justice and social transformation more broadly. Students who have taken Anthropology of Law at Swarthmore are also welcome.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Fall 2025. Azuero-Quijano.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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