Civil Rights and Community Equity Lab

LW. / LW. Professor Deborah Archer Open to 3L and 2L students; LLMs if space permits Maximum of 8 students

Fall 2027 4 credits* No prerequisites or co-requisites.

Course Description

Community equity refers to the collective assets and critical infrastructure that we know are necessary for community members to fully participate in social, economic, and political life. Community equity asks: Do the members of a community have access to excellent schools, quality jobs, powerful social networks, and other drivers of social mobility and good health? Do they have access to human and economic capital? Do they possess a meaningful and equitable ability to build wealth and the stability and collective capacity necessary to exercise democratic power? 

In the Civil Rights and Community Equity Lab, students work with community members, community-based institutions, policymakers, and advocates to address structural challenges facing marginalized communities. Anchored in the idea of justice as construction, the Lab immerses students in the real-world work of designing legal and policy solutions that build equity, stability, and democratic power into the systems and institutions that shape daily life.

Students engage in collaborative, community-driven projects that apply lawyering skills in context—conducting legal and policy research, supporting community advocacy, developing legislative and regulatory proposals, crafting tools for community engagement, and translating lived experience into governance strategies. The Lab prepares students to use law not only to respond to harm, but to help build resilient, equitable, and just communities.

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* 4 credits include 2 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits.