America’s legal system often provides a framework and guidelines on how we address issues that impact our communities. From civil rights and environmental concerns to individual freedoms and the rights of corporations, the legal system can help us address issues that impact us all.
This summer, we are piloting Discovering Justice’s Topics Program, to help students better understand and explore the legal system and how it is addressing real issues impacting our communities.
The first course in our Topics Program, Discovering Justice in a Pandemic, will create a space for students to wrestle with the tensions inherent in how society is responding to COVID-19. Lawyers, community health officials, judges, and community activists will lead classes for students to talk about the need to protect personal liberties and the need for communities to set limits in order to protect public health. The program will culminate in a student-led roundtable discussion in which students will present and discuss what they’ve learned and created throughout the sessions.
We will be working with students and counselors at Camp Harborview and Crossroads, two nonprofits that run student leadership programs throughout the year.
Moving into the fall, Discovering Justice is considering developing courses on the Civil Rights Movement, the United States as a Protest Nation, the Environmental Movement, and the Workers’ Rights Movement.