Explore this Section
Law is a fascinating, complex and practically significant social phenomenon. From the regulation of private conflicts, to the structure of government, virtually no aspect of our social lives is outside its grasp. The LLM in Law and Society at Keele allows students to study this complex social phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. The LLM combines the interdisciplinary focus of the Law School’s other Masters programmes with an enhanced flexibility that allows students to create their own programme of study over the course of 1-5 years.
This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law and society. The course is suitable for those working in a range of fields, including the legal profession, as well as for those with an academic interest in this topic. The course provides an approach to legal studies that is innovative in the UK context. The purpose of the programme is to enable students to gain an understanding of law and legal institutions from an interdisciplinary social science perspective. It focuses on the wide range of research which is covered by the term law and society, from empirical studies of the workings of law to cultural studies of law. The course will enable students to think critically about the wide range of research methods and approaches that are used by those interested in law and society.
Students are required to take an introductory module in law and society and will then be allowed to choose individually from the wide variety offered by the law school, including those on the LLM in International Law and the MA in Human Rights, Globalisation and Justice. Postgraduate students will find a range of support structures, including: research training; accessible staff supervisors; good library resources; access to postgraduate study rooms; and access to IT and legal research tools. This course builds on existing strengths of the Law School research and teaching.
Keele hosts a wide range of seminars, workshops, lectures and visiting fellowships. Many of these activities are available without charge to Keele students.
The programme will introduce students to the wide range of research methods and socio-legal theory informing a critical analysis of the relationship between legal institutions and society. Students will apply these theories and research methods to current legal problems in a variety of subject areas, depending on their own interests and reasons for enrolling on the programme.
Research in law and society has sought to understand, explain and challenge the boundaries between law and the social and cultural context in which it operates. The introductory module will introduce students to the range of research methods that have been used in law and society scholarship broadly conceived. Key themes will include the meaning and complexity of legal issues, the relation between law and social relations, the impact of legal change, and the ways in which law can be deployed for change. Whilst the aim of law and society research has been to use the social sciences to cast light on the workings of law and its limits, the methods used have been very varied. These have included, for example, empirical approaches, feminist methods, and cultural criticism. The module will introduce students to the difficulties that arise in selecting appropriate research methods and explore the potential and possibilities of different approaches to the role of law in society. This will prepare students to undertake further modules from the range on offer in the law school.
Staff within School of Law have excellent research reputations in areas including Gender, Sexuality & Law, Healthcare Law & Ethics, International Law & Globalisation and Social Welfare Law (including issues of Child and Adult Protection). Students interested in working closely with academics producing leading research in this area can choose to follow modules which explore and are informed by these perspectives.
The course is open to all graduates with a first or second-class honours degree. International students whose first language is not English must have IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.
This course may be studied over a period of time of 1 year (full-time) or up to a maximum of 5 years (part-time), to fit with other commitments such as full-time employment.
The LLM consists of 180 M-level credits, made up of 120-credit taught modules and a 60-credit dissertation. There is one compulsory taught module on research in law and society. The remainder can be chosen from a broad range of elective modules offered by the Law School.
If students do not wish to complete the full 180 credits, they may choose to achieve a Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits) or a Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits). A student must complete all taught modules before they may proceed to the dissertation module.
The following is a sample of the electives we expect to be able to offer. Please note that the availability of the modules listed below is dependent upon timetabling, research leave and other circumstances
Semester One:
Introduction to moral and legal concepts (30 credits), Autonomy and paternalism (30 credits), Foundations and principles of child care (30 credits), Contemporary Issues in Child Care Law & Practice (30 credits), Foundations of Human Rights (30 credits), Equality, Discrimination and Minorities (30 credits), The Emergence of Safeguarding Adults (30 credits), Safeguarding Adults: Interventions (30 credits), International Law (15 credits), Introduction to International Economic Law (15 credits), International Environmental Law (15 credits)
Semester Two:
Life and Death (30 credits), Public Health (30 credits), Children and Medicine (30 credits), Youth Justice (30 credits), Children looked after (30 credits), Human Rights in a Global Market (30 credits), Human Rights and Global Politics (30 credits), Mental Capacity (30 credits), Safeguarding and Carers (30 credits), Community Outreach and Socio-Legal Advocacy (30 credits), Quantitative Research and Data Analysis (15 credits), Qualitative Research and Data Analysis (15 credits), International Law and Human Rights (15 credits)
Assessment of the taught modules is by means of coursework. This requires a written assignment of 5,000 words for each module. The pass mark is 50% and students must pass each of the modules in order to progress to the dissertation.
The final form of assessment is the dissertation, which is an extended (15,000 – 20,000 words) and in-depth piece of writing that brings together all of the skills that students have learned throughout the programme.
The dissertation is principally an independent research project, but support is provided in preparing a dissertation proposal through dissertation workshops and through the mentoring of a supervisor or supervisors. A graduate research workshop is also organised at the end of Semester 2 during which students are given an opportunity to present their work-in-progress and receive feedback from fellow students and teaching staff.
Students will also be given a dissertation supervisor, who will offer direct advice and supervision in the production of the dissertation.
