ADVC-330 : Social Impact Advocacy

Despite a century or more of seemingly monumental legal reforms (such as Brown v. Board of Education outlawing school segregation along color lines) and social changes, everyday headlines make plain that the U.S. constitutional commitment to "Equal Justice Under Law" remains illusory for many persons, and for some entire groups. When examined from a systems analysis, current events reveal the "systemic" and interconnected nature of a variety of daunting and seemingly intractable legal and social issues and injustices, ranging from mass incarceration and the War on Drugs to homelessness, voter suppression, protest suppression, student debt, wealth and income disparities, climate change, worker precarity, inadequate school funding, immigrant justice, the preservation of U.S. colonies such as Puerto Rico, the continuance of neighborhood and school segregation, and many more modern topical controversies that reveal identity-based oppressions and underlying systems that serve elite interests. The pressing practical question for those seeking legal reform is: How can lawyers become more effective advocates of systemic reform to achieve equal justice in everyday life for all? Relatedly, how can law be used to remedy systemic injustice, when law is oftentimes constructed and operated as a complementary system to maintain systemic societal and material inequalities based on social identities? To tackle these and similar questions, this three-credit course examines key systemic (or structural) reasons for persistent access to justice and equal justice gaps while building a set of critical knowledges, values, skills, and attitudes (CKVSAs) for effective social impact (or systemic) advocacy. Using contemporary topics of special relevance to students, the course will survey and discuss key issues, concepts, terms, and arguments relating to law and (unequal) justice as we work on individual and group projects linked to current community issues. Assigned readings provide a critical understanding of the complex yet crucial cross-connection among law practice, legal reform, systemic change, and social impact while the hands-on community research projects emphasize the individual and collaborative development of fact-finding and analytical practices. Upon completion of this course, all students should possess a substantive, sophisticated, and self-critical understanding of the cross-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and inter-active skillsets needed for meaningful and resilient social change. Method of Evaluation: Final course grades are based on the following areas of individual performance and summative assessment designed for ongoing feedback, group discussion, and progressive learning: (1) consistent professionalism and participation in classroom discussions and course activities, and (2) contributions to group projects, including presentations at the end of the semester. This comprehensive method of evaluation values and balances the learning process and the covered CKSVAs in all relevant respects-including basics like advance preparation and attention to detail, punctuality and timeliness, consistent attendance and thoughtful participation, personal initiative and self-direction, and overall professional conduct that sustains successful collaboration and teamwork-because each of these technical capacities is a valued competency, and an important metric, of successful professionalism in any modern law practice or social justice role. No prerequisites.