Race, Law & Equity

The Concentration and corresponding Specialized Field of Study in Race, Law, and Equity enables Penn State Law students to structure their academics, and market their success, in courses that support racial justice. At Penn State Law, we commit ourselves to a rule of law that treats all people equally and actively counters racism in all forms.  In the words of our Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Professor Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia: “Systemic racism has pervaded institutions for centuries, including the legal academy and the legal profession. Further, inequities faced by racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, veterans, and first-generation students endure. Finally, international students, those with DACA and without immigration status face new challenges in the wake of changing federal policies and litigation. Penn State Law should be a place where inclusion, equity, and diversity are valued in our teaching, scholarship, learning, and community beyond a piece of paper. ” This field of study offers an opportunity to meaningfully engage in the critical work of racial justice, fully supported by our Penn State Law community.

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Race, Law & Equity Faculty

Courses:

• Asylum and Refugee Law
• Bioethics and Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law Seminar
• Critical Race & Feminist Legal Theory
• Election Security Seminar
• Equal Protection & Civil Rights
• Human Rights, Intersectionality, & the Law
• Law & (In)equity
• Law and Sexuality
• Law of the Police Seminar
• Employment Discrimination
• Immigration Law
• International Human Rights Seminar
• Mediation of Environmental and Public Conflicts 
• Minority Business Ownership
• Native American Law
• Negotiation & Dispute Resolution Design
• Poverty and the Law
• Property & Poverty Seminar
• Renewable Energy Law & Energy Justice 

Clinics:

• Center for Immigrants Rights Clinic
• Civil Rights Appellate Clinic
• Criminal Appellate and Post-Conviction Services Clinic
• Indigent Criminal Justice Trial Clinic
• Manglona Lab for Gender and Economic Equity

 

Additional Experiential Opportunities:

• Street Law
• Externships*
• Externships Everywhere* 
• Semester in Washington*

*Associate Dean for Academic Affairs approval required: Will count towards the concentration if the work is related to the concentration. ​