The first
year curriculum at UBC Law offers students
the opportunity to learn about feminist approaches
to law through the Law in Context course.
Some sections of other first-year courses
incorporate feminist approaches to law.
In second and third year there are opportunities
to explore feminist approaches to law through
dedicated feminist law courses (see below),
and by taking courses such as Corporations,
Evidence, Family Law, Labour Law, Social Welfare
Law and Taxation from feminist
faculty members.
Feminist law courses that have been offered
in recent years include:
Law 307: Women, Law and Social Change
A survey of feminist approaches to law, with
reference to selected substantive areas of
law.
Law 308: Feminist Legal Theory *
Recent developments in feminist legal theory.
Law 362: Topics in Family Law: Advanced
Family Law *
This course explores the law reform debates
currently dominating both Canadian and international
family law. It will cover reforms to custody
and access law, parenting definitions in the
context of assisted reproductive technologies,
the relationship between conduct (eg, domestic
violence) and spousal support and property
division, and the relationship between child
support, child access and abortion law. Throughout
the class we will address why family law reform
is so contentious, as well as who reforms
should be directed towards: high conflict
families or the "norm". The discussions
will draw from both Canadian and relevant
international materials.
Law 365: Women, Law and Family *
Feminist and other critical perspectives on
the relationship between unequal gender relations
and laws embodying a concept of "family".
Law 405D: Topics in Criminal Law: Sexual
Assault *
In this course students seek to understand
and critically evaluate the most recent developments
in the criminal law of sexual assault in the
context of the historical development of the
law of rape in Canada and abroad. The course
considers, using a feminist framework, recent
developments in the procedural and substantive
law of criminal sexual offenses, including:
causes and effects of sexual assault; the
definition of consent and mistaken belief
in consent; failure to disclose HIV status;
sexual history evidence; access to complainants'
counseling records; racism and sexual assault;
the sexual assault of women with disabilities;
prostitution; and community notification provisions.
Law 518: Feminist Legal Studies: Key Themes
and Current Debates *
A graduate-level seminar on concepts that
are key to feminist legal research, the main
strands of literature, and the conceptual
and methodological underpinning of various
types of feminist work on law.
*Please note these courses are not offered
every year.
