Keele Badge

LAW-10049 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Business, Law, Humanities & Social Sciences

For academic year: 2026/27 Last Updated: 16 September 2026

LAW-10049 - Critical Legal Studies
Coordinator: Fabienne Emmerich Tel: +44 1782 7 33139
Lecture Time:
Level: Level 4
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733218

Programme/Approved Electives for 2026/27

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2026/27

This module offers you an introduction to some of the major modern legal theories, including critical legal studies, socio-legal approaches, feminist legal studies, and postcolonial theory. Through engaging critically with a range of different approaches to legal study, you will build on and further develop your academic legal skills, including group work and presentation skills. You will gain a strong theoretical grounding in the major academic legal traditions, providing an essential foundation for your future legal studies.

Aims
The module is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge and understanding of critical theories of law, justice and society.
The aim is to expose you to different critical theoretical approaches to understanding the nature and function of law including Legal Realism, Feminist Legal Studies and Postcolonialism and the law.
The module provides foundational knowledge for Level 5 modules, such as Contemporary Issues in Law and Law in the 21st Century, and Level 6 modules such as Law, Equality and Human Rights and Law and the Family.
Moreover, it gives students a sound footing who intend to explore their own research project theoretically through an independent study project e.g. dissertation, at Level 6.
The module focuses on the development of the following Graduate Attributes: Social and ethical responsibility and academic expertise.
Ultimately, the aim is to support students to develop critical thinking skills in order to become critical lawyers or critical legal scholars.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Describe key theories of law, justice and society with reference to relevant academic literature: 1
Explain how these theories affect our understanding of law in the political, social, economic and cultural contexts: 1
Formulate a critical judgment on a legal issue through a theoretical lens: 2
Reflect on the critical judgment that they have produced, with a focus on their engagement with the theories: 2

Study hours

Active Learning:
10 x 1 hour lectures
6 x 2 hour interactive workshops
1 x 4 hours consultation
Independent Study:
6 x 6h Workshop preparation
37h Independent reading
15h Preparation for the narrated Powerpoint presentation (group meetings, researching, reading and creating the presentation)
36h exam preparation

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Group Assessment weighted 30%
Narrated Powerpoint Group Presentation
A 15-20 minute narrated PowerPoint group presentation that explains the theoretical approach of a critical judgment. There should be 3-4 maximum members to a group. The narrated PowerPoint presentation should be recorded. Every student should contribute a maximum of 5 minutes to the presentation using the aid of a maximum of two slides that they have authored.

2: Assignment weighted 70%
Critical Judgment Writing and Reflection
Rewrite two paragraphs of an existing legal judgment (30%), applying a particular theoretical lens (e.g. feminist, critical race, queer, indigenous, etc) and write a reflection (70%) on writing the critical judgment (total 1500 words). This means that approximately 500 words should be spent on the judgment and 1000 words on the reflection.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 16 September 2026