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Social Justice

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Ramapo College Office of Admissions

McBride House 505 Ramapo Valley Road Mahwah, NJ 07430

p: (201) 684-7300
e: admissions@ramapo.edu
f: (201) 684-7964

About the Law and Society Major with Social Justice Concentration

Want to change the world? Passionate about justice, the law and human rights? The Law and Society major with Social Justice concentration provides students with the opportunity to focus on various areas including constitutional and human rights law, as well as the issues and implications for social justice relating to disability, healthcare, the environment, elderly care, psychology, sex and gender.

A number of Law and Society Ramapo graduates enter law school each year including Boston College Law School, Georgetown Law, New York Law School, Pace Law School, Rutgers School of Law, John Jay College, Seton Hall, and Syracuse University. Ramapo also offers a joint B.A./J.D Degree with Seton Hall Law School; this guaranteed admissions program is designed so that high achieving high school students who meet outlined criteria can be accepted to Ramapo and be guaranteed admission to Seton Hall Law School four years later.

What You’ll Learn

Students will explore the intersection of human rights, the law, the role and impact of international institutions and structures on various international human rights problems and issues such as genocide, human trafficking, torture and other denials of fundamental human rights.

Courses will allow for the examination of environmental issues through a social justice lens, disability within their broadest possible legal and social context, addressing issues related to equity, rights, and social change. Furthermore, courses will examine the systemic inequalities based on race, gender, class, sexuality, age, and other identities, emphasizing the importance of advocacy and activism.



Classes You Can Take

Career Opportunities

Your Law and Society degree is a broad-based interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences. That means that it provides a solid foundation for many career options, including public service, law enforcement, health care, social services, and legal administration.

A number of Law and Society Ramapo graduates enter law school each year including Boston College Law School, Georgetown Law, New York Law School, Rutgers School of Law, John Jay College and Syracuse University. Ramapo also offers a joint B.A./J.D Degree with Seton Hall Law School; this guaranteed admissions program is designed so that high achieving high school students who meet outlined criteria can be accepted to Ramapo and be guaranteed admission to Seton Hall Law School four years later.

Sample Job Titles and National Salary Ranges

Job TitleSalary Range
Lawyers, Judges, and Related WorkersNo Salary Data
Lawyers and Judicial Law ClerksNo Salary Data
Lawyers$69,240 - Varies
Judicial Law Clerks$41,000 - $61,200
Judges, Magistrates, and Other Judicial WorkersNo Salary Data
Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers$78,080 - $167,020
Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators$51,940 - $153,520
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates$38,340 - $202,600
Legal Support WorkersNo Salary Data
Paralegals and Legal Assistants$35,980 - $87,960
Miscellaneous Legal Support WorkersNo Salary Data
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers$32,900 - $97,560
Legal Support Workers, All Other$40,140 - $110,890
Supervisors of Protective Service WorkersNo Salary Data

* Sources of Information: United States Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020). For more information about careers and assistance in making your career plans, please contact Career Services (cahill@ramapo.edu) or visit www.ramapo.edu/careercenter/.

Hands-On Learning

As a Law and Society Major, you’ll dive deeper into your studies through independent study, field work, and your Senior Thesis. Popular internships for our students have included the Mahwah Police Department, Bergen County Police Department, Bergen County Municipal Court, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), county and city courts, law firms, and state senators. Recent internship highlights include the United Nations, White House, and the international law firm White & Case (Germany).

The Ramapo Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) Center offers another opportunity for Law and Society majors to obtain hands-on experience in a new and exciting field in the only undergraduate training program in IGG in the country. The IGG Workshop (LAWS 365), where students learn how to conduct IGG and work on real cases from the IGG Center, provides 4-credits towards the Law and Society major. After completing the IGG Workshop, select students may continue to work on real cases of violent crime, unidentified human remains, and wrongful convictions at the IGG Center

All students in law and society must write a substantial thesis as their capstone. The best theses are published in the Ramapo Journal of Law and Society (www.ramapo.edu/law-journal), one of the few undergraduate law and society journals in the country. The Journal is run by Ramapo students, most of whom are law and society majors.

Our students also have an opportunity to organize and participate in our signature event series, the World of Law and SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) Discussion Series. The program is open to the entire college community, and has featured speakers from, among others, the Bronx Defenders, Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Children’s Rights, Center for Reproductive Rights, Legal Aid, American Friends Service Committee, Outten & Golden.

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