Module LAW54315: Domestic Anti-Discrimination Law

Department: Law

LAW54315: Domestic Anti-Discrimination Law

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• to provide a critical study of aspects of domestic anti-discrimination law.

Content

• underlying theories;
• current protected grounds - race, gender reassignment, sex, disability, marital status; further protected grounds?
• models adopted in UK; differences between models adoptedin respect of different protected grounds;
• European dimension;
• relevance of Human Rights Act;
• efficacy and limitations of law.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will gain a thorough knowledge of the many sources of anti-discrimination law in the UK, their content, and their modes of enforcement;
• Students will be able to identify the conflicts and lacunae among the various sources of anti-discrimination law, and explain them in theoretical and historical terms;
• Students will be able to explain the theoretical debates that relate to anti-discrimination law in the UK, and identify the key contributors to the contemporary equality law debate.

• students will be able to:
• understand and describe the sources, content, and institutional setting of anti-discrimination law in the UK;
• identify and analyse the main issues arising in that context;
• critically evaluate the positions that other scholars hold in relation to these issues.

• A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice;
• A comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;
• Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline;
• Conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline; and to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them, and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The teaching will be based on Socratic seminars supported by substantial but targeted reading assignments before each seminar session. The readings are selected from both established doctrinal sources as well as cutting-edge scholarship in the area. The seminars will work from a basic level of doctrinal knowledge and build on that foundation into discussions of more difficult and controversial issues within the sub-discipline. This will encourage students to learn the material and develop the ability to discuss it and understand where each aspect of the reading fits in with the relevant debates.
• The elements of assessment complement one another and support the aims of the teaching methods. The exam will assess the extent to which students have developed an overall grasp of the subject matter and issues, and can discuss challenging problems emerging in the sub-discipline. The formative essay will assess the ability of the students not only to analyse the subject material, but to perform research in the sub-discipline, and present a structured, articulate argument on the subject.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

One assignment of approximately 2,000 words in Epiphany Term.