New Major in Law, Politics, and Society

Students interested in the relationship between law, political life, and Canadian society will now have the opportunity to combine the fields of study in the form of a systematic but flexible interdisciplinary major at St. Thomas University.

Students who pursue a major or minor in Law, Politics, and Society will gain a conceptual, institutional, social, and historical foundation in the way law works in advanced democracies. 

Graduates from the program will be well-versed in the major types of law in Canada, the judicial system, the legal profession, and the interaction of law and social forces and structures, and the interaction of law and politics. They will be well-suited for work in law enforcement, the justice system, border services, social work, interest groups, government, and many other areas.

Coordinated by Dr. Tom Bateman, the program is designed to allow students to examine the nature of law and its influence on Canadian politics, as well as how laws are made and changed.

“When I was an undergraduate, the news was dominated by debates about re-patriating the Constitution and entrenching a Charter of Rights,” Bateman said.

“Since that time, law and judicial process have become central features of public life. Issues ranging from free speech and assisted suicide to Indigenous rights and provincial control over economic development all directly implicate the courts. This is a program whose time has come.”

The interdisciplinary major in Law, Politics, and Society draws on courses in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Human Rights, Political Science, Native Studies, and Sociology, as well as its own introductory courses.

Learn more about the interdisciplinary major in Law, Politics, and Society.