This class is designed to introduce students to the field of law and society. The course begins with an overview of the various theoretical perspectives on the subject: both classical (i.e. functionalism, conflict theory, and Weberian interpretations of legal rationality) and contemporary (i.e. structuralism, critical legal studies, and cultural perspectives on the law). Among the themes reviewed in this section are sociological understandings of deviance, legitimation, and the law's relationship to religion and the economy. Employing the interpretive frameworks supplied by the theoretical models, the next part of the course reviews empirical research in criminal and civil law, including investigations into the behavior of police, the criminal courts, jails and prisons, personal injury tort law, civil disputing, plea bargaining, and other dimensions of civil litigation. The course concludes with an examination both of the influence of social change on the nature and direction of law and, conversely, of the effects of legal change on culture. Considered in this part of the course are the changing cultural and legal understandings of freedom, sexual behavior, family, and education. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: a short paper and midterm and final exams.