Dear LSJ Alumni Community:
As many of you know, I had some pretty big shoes to fill when I became Chair of the Law, Societies, and Justice Department. Under Steve’s leadership, and with your help, LSJ became a full-fledged Department, created three new endowed funds, and moved to a lovely and permanent new home on the mezzanine of Smith Hall. The number and diversity of LSJ majors and minors, and LSJ’s capacity to offer innovative learning opportunities, increased notably.
I am happy to report… Read more
by Hunter Kulik
Samantha Fredman is a Law, Societies & Justice and Pre-Health major in University of Washington’s interdisciplinary honors program. She has devoted her undergraduate experience to supporting unsheltered young adults and challenging stereotypes around homelessness.
As a freshman, Samantha took a class through the honors program, Human Rights From the Ground Up, which prompted her fascination with human rights work. The course challenged Samantha to select a specific… Read more
By Hunter Kulik
Recent University of Washington graduate (2019) and LSJ alum Crystal Song began her journey with University Beyond Bars (UBB) when she participated in the LSJ Mixed Enrollment course in Winter 2019. As Crystal’s first experience in an incarcerated setting, she found herself moved and enlightened as the course progressed. “What set the course apart was being in that environment and talking about criminal legal reform with folks who are impacted by the system every day,” Crystal… Read more
By Hunter Kulik
Stephen Meyers was working for a non-governmental organization with landmine survivors in Central America when talk of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) began. When the CRPD passed in 2006, Meyers worried that the people who would be the most affected by the CRPD, people with disabilities in developing countries, had no voice in the development of the Convention itself. “What is this Convention going to mean to people around the world?” was the… Read more
By Hunter Kulik
Majoring in Law, Societies & Justice (LSJ) can send graduates in many compelling and even unexpected directions. For these recent alumni (2018), it sent them overseas working and volunteering with the Peace Corps.
Although these LSJ graduates had many reasons for joining the Peace Corps, an organization currently employing over 7,000 volunteers across over 60 countries, it was their studies in LSJ that led to their interest in this post graduate option.
Brooks Strawn… Read more
By Hunter Kulik
This fall we welcomed Rawan Arar to join the Law, Societies & Justice community. Beginning Winter Quarter, Professor Arar will start teaching courses on human rights issues and refugee displacement.
Arar started her career in her hometown, as an undergraduate at the University of Texas San Antonio. From there, she pursued a Masters in women’s and gender studies at UT Austin. It was at this time that Arar became a rotary scholar which involved travelling to the Middle East… Read more