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Accessibility statement
Qualification dates
StartEnd
01 Oct 2026Mar 2027
30 Jan 2027Jul 2027
Law plays a role in all aspects of our everyday life. In this innovative module, you'll discover the relationships between law, society and culture. You'll explore these themes through the lens of diverse and cutting-edge issues, which can sometimes be controversial. You'll have a unique opportunity to shape your pathway through the module by choosing the theme of your final block of study, focusing either on law and humanities or on law and environments. This module will also equip you with the legal and transferable skills necessary for further independent study as well as for your personal and professional life.
Throughout the module, you will find a strong emphasis on law in context. This includes analysing of the interaction between law and the political, cultural and social contexts in which we live today, as well as an examination of these contexts from a historical perspective. As you work through the module you will be increasingly prompted towards recognising, examining, questioning and challenging in depth these legal contexts using your own legal reasoning.
After studying the first two themes, you'll have an opportunity to choose either law and humanities or law and environments. The final piece of assessment, which takes the form of a research essay, will be on a topic in whichever of those themes you choose.
Block 1: Law and gender

This theme will look at the relationship between gender and law. It will challenge existing assumptions about the neutrality of law and explore the gendered nature of law. In the second unit of the block, you'll focus on challenging the gender stereotypes and assumptions regarding female perpetrators and their treatment in the criminal justice system (in the UK and international context).
Block 2: Law and the body

You'll be introduced to four contemporary topics on law and the body. At all stages of life, the body is subject to law and control, but how bodies are controlled and are permitted to act, changes in different circumstances. The first unit discusses consent to bodily harm through established case law, with a particular focus on how the body is permitted to act in sporting spheres. The second unit continues with issues surrounding the law’s regulation of the body through the introduction of illegal drugs and safe injection sites. The third unit considers experiences of healthcare in a socio-legal context, while the fourth unit explores the relationship between law and the body in the context of neuroscientific, societal, legal and philosophical interpretations of what it may mean to be conscious of our actions.
Block 3A: Law and humanities

This block explores law in the context of humanities. Throughout this block, a sub-theme of Nazi Germany is adopted to provide you with concrete examples from a particular time period to explore the connections between the law and three key topics: the visual, language, and cultural property.
Starting with a critical inquiry into how symbols, emblems, heraldry etc., were used by the Nazis in relation to and in accordance with the law to support and promote their ideology in the lead-up to World War 2, you'll proceed to explore the language used in the legal texts of this historical period. Finally, you'll explore the legal issues surrounding cultural property of this period, the development of the international framework on protecting cultural property, as well as the topic of return of cultural property after the war.
Block 3B: Law and environments

This block critically engages with three contemporary issues relating to law in three very diverse and exciting environments. The first unit challenges you to think critically about the legal implications of people’s participation in online spaces in the context of human rights (freedom of expression), and what could, and should, be subject to legal controls. The second unit engages with the issue of legal controls in our lived environment and climate change. The third unit takes you into outer space and to think critically about how and why law operates in space.
We recommend that you have successfully completed 60 credits of OU level 2 modules prior to studying this OU level 3 module.
If you are studying this module towards the Academic degree or Foundations of Legal Knowledge route as part of the Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (LLB) (R81) or Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (graduate entry) (LLB) (R82), then you will need to have studied or be studying on a presentation of Trusts law (W311) before enrolling on W340.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
One of the tutor-marked assignments is an oral presentation, and you will be required to use the Audio Recording Tool to record your presentation and submit it. The end-of-module assessment is a research essay and an opportunity to conduct your own small-scale research.
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
You will need to record an oral presentation as part of your assessed work on this module. We strongly recommend that you use a headset with a microphone, as using an external or integrated microphone and speakers could result in a poor-quality recording.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying W340 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Law, society and culture starts twice a year – in February and October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026 and February 2027.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2030.
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