The Legal Studies major provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to become familiar with legal ideas, legal institutions, and the legal process. It is designed to provide tools for reasoned appraisal of how the law works and of the policies that underlie it. The major is based firmly on the view that the study of law and justice has a rich humanistic tradition and that its pursuit can encourage sustained reflection on fundamental values. Legal Studies is a liberal arts major in the College of Letters and Science but under the academic supervision of the law school faculty.

The courses deal with a wide variety of subjects, including philosophy of law, American legal history, non-western legal traditions, politics and law, the criminal justice process, property law, and economic regulation; courses are taught by faculty with backgrounds in the Humanities and Social Sciences as well as law.

Legal Studies was not specifically designed to prepare students for law school, nor does it provide paralegal training. (Law schools recommend no specific major.) On the other hand, it does help students develop their ability to think clearly and to analyze arguments critically. Our multidisciplinary approach exposes the student to the great variety of human behavior and institutions. Many students who plan to go to law school choose this major as a field of liberal arts study.

Undergraduate Student Learning Initiative (USLI)

GOALS:

To expand students’ intellectual horizons and to develop their thinking, writing and research skills.

To introduce students to the most salient features of the American legal system, with a view to reaching a reasoned appraisal of the law works and of the policies that underlie it.

To acquaint students with basic legal terminology, legal concepts, and with modes of legal reasoning.

To encourage thinking on the role of law in American society.

To encourage reflection on fundamental concepts like justice, equality,  and efficiency.

To encourage critical thinking on the relationship of the existing law and justice.

To introduce students to some of the great literature, ancient and modern, on the law and its place in society, including contemporary scholarship from the social and behavioral sciences.

To convey understanding of how law has evolved through time.

To acquaint student with legal systems other than our own.

To equip students with the necessary skills to find relevant legal and sociolegal information and to assess it.

Assessment

Seminars and small classes. Legal Studies seminars are a regular part of every semester’s course offerings. These small classes, which encourage discussion, and usually have research paper requirements, offer a good opportunity for assessing the depth of student learning.