About Kaaryn
Kaaryn Gustafson draws on training in sociology, law, and social policy to shape a career that moves between the academy and the law. She earned an A.B. in sociology from Harvard in 1990, a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1997, and a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from UC Berkeley in 2004. Those credentials form the backbone of her teaching and scholarship.
Her academic career began in earnest after completing the Ph.D. In 2004 she joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut School of Law as a professor. She spent a decade there building courses that reflected both doctrinal law and the social contexts that shape legal institutions. Colleagues describe her as a teacher who brings empirical sensibilities into classroom conversations and who asks students to attend to how law operates in everyday life.
In 2014 she accepted a professorship at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. At UC Irvine she continued work that sits at the junction of law and social inquiry. Her work draws on sociological methods and legal analysis. She has taught foundational courses alongside seminars that probe how law interacts with social structures.
Gustafson’s memberships reflect that mixed orientation. She is a member of the Society of American Law Teachers and has been since 2007. She also belongs to the American Sociological Association, a connection that dates back to 1996. Those associations map onto a career that crosses disciplinary lines and engages both legal educators and social scientists.
Students and peers note that Gustafson brings careful attention to evidence and to institutional detail. Her scholarship often examines how legal rules meet social practices. In classroom settings she encourages critical reading of case law and empirical material. She has supervised research that ranges from doctrinal analysis to projects that deploy qualitative and quantitative social science techniques.
She remains on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she teaches, publishes, and participates in law school governance. Her current work focuses on legal education and scholarship at UC Irvine School of Law.
