Social Justice Curriculum
Clinical Courses
We strongly recommend that any student interested in social justice register for at least one clinical course serving the needs of low-income clients in a variety of contexts. These courses, which are run out of Vanderbilt Law School's in-house legal clinic, offer students the opportunity to experience social justice lawyering first hand by working directly with clients, lawyers, and judges—always under the supervision of a member of the clinical faculty. Current clinical courses serving low-income clients include:
Civil Practice Clinic
Community and Economic Development Clinic
Criminal Practice Clinic
Domestic Violence Clinic
More information about Vanderbilt Law School's Clinical Legal Education Program
Seminars
Each Vanderbilt Law student is required to take a seminar and prepare a substantive research paper as a condition of graduation. Enrollment in each of these seminars is limited to 16 students. The Social Justice Program offers a number of seminars that satisfy this requirement, including past offerings such as:
Advanced Topics in Race, Gender and Representation in the Political Process Seminar
Child Welfare Seminar: Law and Policy
Children and the Law Seminar
Juvenile Justice Seminar
Law and Poverty Seminar
Law and Social Justice Seminar
More information about Vanderbilt Law School's seminar requirement.
Short Courses
Each year, Vanderbilt Law School offers a number of short courses addressing topics of special interest. Typically, these courses are taught on a one-time basis, take place over the period of one week or two weekends, and offer one to two credits.
Electives
The great majority of law school courses will be valuable to at least some public service lawyers. The elective courses listed below have a specific focus on client groups that are likely not to be well served by the existing fee-for-service system, and may therefore be particularly of interest to students interested in social justice:
Consumer Credit Protection
Criminal Procedure: Investigation
Domestic Violence Law
Employment Discrimination Law
Family Law
Immigration Law and Policy
Labor Relations Law
Law of Work
Legal Interviewing and Counseling
Litigating the Capital Punishment Case
Non-Litigation Strategies for Change in Public and Social Policy
Race, Gender and Representation in the Political Process
Sexual Orientation and the Law
Social Security Law and Practice
Externships
Students can earn credit by participating in a rich variety of supervised externships, not only in Nashville but also in other parts of the country and around the world. The Social Justice Program encourages students to seek out externships in areas related to social justice, and the program faculty is well-situated to help students find suitable placements.
Externship - In Nashville/Academic year/Summer
Externship - Full Semester
For more on the Law School’s externship program, click here
Directed Research
Vanderbilt law students may take advantage of a variety of opportunities to conduct research with Social Justice Program faculty, either by assisting faculty members with their research or by conducting their own research under faculty supervision.
Research Assistance for Credit
Supervised Research Project