Photo credit: Tony Rinaldo
Student engagement is a key component of the Program’s academic focus. In addition to course offerings and programming engagements, we provide research assistantship opportunities, student mentorship and advising, research grants, and an annual writing prize to recognize student excellence in academic research and writing.
Courses and Study Groups
Course Offerings 2025-2026
Introduction to Islamic Law, Spring 2026, Kristen Stilt
This seminar will examine contemporary issues in Islamic law, with a focus on issues highly salient in our world today, including climate change and its many impacts, protection of the environment, food security and sovereignty, human health and welfare, pollution, access to water, and others. Advocates, policy makers, and governments worldwide (and not only in countries with significant Muslim populations) are drawing on Islamic law in pursuit of solutions to these existential problems. Case studies will be drawn from countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, the U.S., and others.
Students do not need prior knowledge related to Islamic law. We will begin the seminar with an introduction to the relevant sources and historical context.
Students will submit short (1,000 word) papers for each week of class. Grading will be based on 50% class participation (which includes facilitating one class session) and 50% short papers.
Animal Law, Spring 2026, Kristen Stilt
This course will introduce students to the broad range of laws that affect non-human animals (“animals”), including companion animals, farm animals (with a particular focus on factory farms), animals used in the context of entertainment (such as zoos and aquaria), animals used in scientific experimentation, and wild animals. The course will focus mainly on the U.S. but will also include some attention to the laws of other countries and to international law.
The course will also engage with fundamental questions about animals and the law, such as: Are some animals more deserving of protection than others, and if so, on what basis? What role does culture and belief play in animal law—why are dogs considered pets in the U.S. and food in some parts of the world, for example? Does the status of animals as property pose an insurmountable barrier to increasing protections for animals? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the concepts of “animal rights” and “animal welfare”?
View past course offerings of the Program on Law & Society in the Muslim World.
Writing Prize
The Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World at Harvard Law School awards a prize of $1,000 annually to the Harvard Law Student writing the best paper in the field of law and society or law and social change in a Muslim majority or minority context. Papers eligible for consideration will be ones written during the current academic year at Harvard Law School. For more information on how to apply, please see the Writing Prize Submission Instructions.
View past recipientsof the Program on Law & Society in the Muslim World Writing Prize.
Research Opportunities
The Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World provides opportunities for Harvard Law students to undertake scholarly and policy research and writing, both for academic credit and through paid research assistantships. We particularly welcome applications from students interested in pursuing research related to law and social change, human rights, gender, women’s rights, minority rights, constitutional law, climate change, animal rights, and related fields.
Please email us at [email protected] to learn more about research opportunities for students.