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Legal Studies (LGST) 390
Women, Equality and the Law

Revision 1 closed January 14, 2008, replaced by current version.

Delivery mode: Individualized study or grouped study.

Credits: 3 - Applied Studies

Prerequisite: None.

Centre: Centre for State and Legal Studies

LGST 390 is not available for Challenge.

Course website

Overview

LGST 390 is designed to introduce you to the history of women's engagement with the law as a tool to achieve social change. In this course, you will examine both traditional women's issues (abortion, pornography) and more cutting-edge issues (transgendered persons) which exemplify the feminist legal movement in Canada.

Outline

LGST 390 is divided into four parts.

Part I: Learning the Language: Feminist, Legal Discourse

  • Unit 1: An Introduction to Feminist Discourse
  • Unit 2: Basic Legal Principles and the Canadian Legal System
  • Unit 3: Women's Legal Personality: A Test Case
  • Unit 4: Critical Perspectives on Law and Rights

Part II: Equality

  • Unit 5: The Concept of Equality
  • Unit 6: Section 15 of the Charter: A History and Overview

Part III: Case Studies

  • Unit 7: Abortion
  • Unit 8: Pregnancy and Child Rearing
  • Unit 9: Pornography
  • Unit 10: Sexual Violence

Part IV: Emerging Women's Issues

  • Unit 11: Who is a Woman? Transgendered Persons

Evaluation

To receive credit for LGST 390, you must complete two written assignments and a final essay with a précis, and obtain a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Précis for Final Essay Final Paper Total
10% 15% 5% 70% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Other materials

The course materials include a student manual, study guide, reading file, and forms.