GENERAL PURPOSE

Collection development in Law and Society should support:

1. The educational needs of students in Law and Society courses, in particular the introductory course and the Senior Seminar, as well as independent study (formal and informal).
2. The pedagogical needs of the Law and Society faculty, as a base for discussions of the literature.
3. The research and scholarship needs of the Law and Society faculty in the context of an undergraduate institution. These research needs are addressed as resources allow.
4. Serve the needs of the College community as a resource for people with general interest in legal topics.

GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES

The Law & Society curriculum studies the relationship between law and human behavior and the role of law in society. The collection will address the three primary areas of study: philosophies of law, law as a social institution, and law and government.

 Particular areas of current interest include:

• Law as a Social Institution
• History of Law
• U.S. Criminal Justice System
• Comparative Legal Cultures
• Law and Social Change
• Law and Psychology
• Law as a Social-Control Mechanism
• Philosophies of Law
• Media and the Law (e.g., censorship, privacy, technology, obsencity, libel, hate speech)

The Law and Society concentration is closely integrated with the Sociology department, and its collection should reflect this. There is also significant overlap with the interests of the following departments and other interdisciplinary programs, all of which also have independent collection budgets: American Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Religious Studies.

TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

The Law and Society monograph collection should concentrate on scholarly works, but serious books for a general audience may be appropriate, particularly on current legal issues. There is interest in video for use in the classroom, particularly documentaries. The study of legal issues often relies on access to U.S. government documents. Some faculty have interest in electronic access to large data sets.

FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

All formats are relevant.

LANGUAGES

Most material should be in English to facilitate use by the majority of students. 

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

The U.S. is the general geographic area of interest.  

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDELINES

Emphasis is clearly on the institutions and values of modernity: Western society from the 17th century to the present. 

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

Special Collections collects all faculty monograph publications, as part of the Kenyon Authors collection, and all Honors Theses written by seniors at Kenyon. 

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Kenyon's connection to the CONSORT and OhioLINK groups is a vital resource in a discipline as broad as Sociology, and students and faculty should be educated about using them effectively. 

CREATION DATE AND REVISION HISTORY

Created April 2010 by Julia Glynn Warga, Social Sciences Librarian, in consultation with the Law and Society Faculty.

LC CLASS

Relevant LC classes include BJ (Ethics), HV (Social Pathology/Criminology), JZ (International Relations/Law), and K (Law).