| Unit name | Law and Race |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30135 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Adebisi |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
If you are interested in thinking about how race intersects with law as you’ve studied it so far in your degree, then Law and Race is for you. Law and Race invites you to question your own assumptions as well as those that underpin legal doctrine, policy and theory. It will involve an in-depth engagement with not only law, but with research from other areas of the social sciences and the humanities. This is an interdisciplinary unit that refuses to see the law as a ‘neutral’ object that we put to work for us and instead places the law in its historical and, most importantly, political context, especially as regards how racialisation in space and time operates - in other words, you will be taking a close look at how the law has been and is instrumental in giving significance to racial hierarchies.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit seeks to expand and unsettle a lot of your study from previous years. For example, it is an avenue to help you understand how aspects of law interact with society, with a focus on issues of racialisation. Its focus on theory is meant to help you understand the nature of law in new and interesting ways.
An overview of content
This unit examines legal history and the current state of law through lens of race. You will start by with an introduction to British Imperialism and Empire. Here you will learn about the role of race and its interaction with law in historical context. Next, you will take an overview of some theoretical frameworks for understanding race and law. You will then explore the relationship between race, law and literature and methodologies for understanding how structural racism is reproduced. Finally, we will consider how the foregoing relate to specific areas of law and society such as the legal system, decolonisation, and the quest for racial justice.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
By the end of this unit, you will have a firm grasp (from multiple lenses) of the co-constitutive nature of the relationship between law and race as well as the impact on society. Throughout the unit, you will engage in a critical exploration of how legal evolution has impacted upon and caused racial disparities, and how these factors are continuously consciously/unconsciously embedded and reproduced within the operation of law.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
You will learn across the academic year, and you can expect to have learning activities scheduled or planned for a minimum of 20 weeks. Teaching will include learning activities including lectures, small group work, discussions, individual tasks, and in-seminar presentations. These learning sessions will mainly be on campus and synchronous.
The unit will require directed and self-directed learning, which will include activities such as reading materials included in the unit’s reading list, watching films, accessing web-based supplementary materials, critical analysis, completion of tasks for in-seminar presentation, and completion of assessments.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
The formative will be a series of reflective essays written in TB1 (1500 words in total). The purpose of the formative is to help you articulate you understanding of the preliminary concepts and theories underpinning the unit. This understanding will serve to undergird the summative. Feedback will be provided on submission with an eye to these points.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The summative will be a 3000-word essay response to a set question. The question will cover more than one topic on the unit. You will be expected to demonstrate understanding of the unit as a whole as such you will need to draw ideas from across the unit. This summative will be submitted at the end of TB2. This assessment will cover all ILO for this unit.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessment required for credit in the usual way.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWD30135).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
