Legal Studies

Legal Studies | Courses | Faculty

102 Gordon Hall

Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Contact: Department
Office: 102 Gordon Hall
Phone: (413) 545-0021
Website: www.umass.edu/legal/
Blog: http://blogs.umass.edu/legal/

Chair of Department: Professor Ronald Pipkin. Professors Arons, Katsh, Rifkin; Assistant Professors Hilbink, Hussin, Jones, Siulc, Yoon; Lecturer II Holmes; Lecturers Carhart, Gaitenby, Levinsky, Wing.

The Field

Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of law and society. As a department within the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Legal Studies offers its courses to the entire University and maintains a major. There is no minor in Legal Studies. The purpose of this multifaceted program is to develop the study of law within a liberal arts framework and to explore the myriad ways in which law is connected with other disciplines pertinent to an understanding of society.

One can say that Legal Studies is education about law, whereas law school is education in law. As a discipline, Legal Studies is based on the assumption that “law is too important to be left to lawyers.” The critical, humanistic approach of the program encourages students to investigate and develop their attitudes toward law and society within the context of a growing literature of Legal Studies and related disciplines.

Legal Studies also examines law and society from the perspective of other cultures. The department encourages study abroad to expand cross-cultural understanding in an increasingly global political community.

The Major

Admission to the major is open to all. The introductory course, LEGAL 250, cannot be taken until sophomore year so freshmen concentrate on their General Education and Global Education requirements. Since Legal Studies is part of the New England Regional Student Program (NERSP), students from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine with Legal Studies as their primary major may be eligible for a tuition reduction. For more information, contact the Registrar’s Office. Note: a cumulative average of 2.000 is required for graduation, both within the major, and overall.

Requirements

1. 250 Introduction to Legal Studies

2. Seven courses drawn from the 200-400 levels (excluding 250, 296, 298, 396, 450, 496, 498-499)
Courses recently offered include:

252 Law and Personal Freedom
260 Law in the Historical Context
275 Interdisciplinary Legal Studies
333 Law and Culture in America
350 Modern Political Trials
367 Law, Politics and Social Change in the 20th Century
375 Human Rights and Wrongs

391 Due Process in the Criminal Trial
Victims and Offenders in the Legal Process
Law and the Family
Law and Social Activism
Women and the Law
No Place to Hide: Law and Politics of Info/Data

397 Special Topics:
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Law, Crime and Society
Law and Public Policy
Civil Liberties in Wartime
Legal Fictions: Makin’ It and Fakin’ It
Theories of Law and Society
Slavery and the Law
Citizenship and Race
Torture, Terrorism and the Law

460 Legalization of the American Indian
465 Globalization
470 Indigenous Peoples—Global Issues
475 Gods and Governments
480 War Crimes Tribunals
485 Death Penalty in America

491 Seminars:
Law and Literature
Conflict in Cyberspace: Online
Dispute Resolution
Dynamics of Law and Race
Law and Conscience
Law and the World Wide Web
Race, Gender and the Law

497 Special Topics:
Who Owns Equality: Civil Rights Law in the United States
Racial Conflict, Mediation and Social Justice
Environmental and Public Policy Dispute Resolution
Social Justice Denied: Workers’ Rights in United States Law
Environmental Justice
Law in the Media
Lawyers, Advocacy and Civil Rights

3. 450 Legal Research and Writing (Junior Year Writing requirement)

4. Two liberal arts law-related courses outside the department selected from a list prepared by the department and available on its website.
Total: 33 credits.

Honors Work

The department encourages students in the major to consider honors courses and other honors work. Virtually all Legal Studies faculty are open to being approached by students wishing to establish Honors colloquia or Independent Studies, or to create honors thesis or project committees. For additional information, contact the Departmental Honors Coordinator, Bernie Jones, tel. (413) 577-6164 or email: bdjones@legal.umass.edu.

Independent Study Opportunities

The department offers Independent Study opportunities to graduate as well as undergraduate students through LEGAL 296, 396, 496, 596, 696 and 796. A faculty sponsor is required, and the credit does not fulfill any Legal Studies requirements.

Legal Studies/MCAD Clinical Project

The Department of Legal Studies and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrim-ination in Springfield have cooperated to define an academic/clinical project that includes three courses for majors interested in a clinical placement focused on civil rights and anti-discrimination law. Students must be enrolled in or have previously completed LEGAL 497 Civil Rights Law in the U.S., or Workers’ Rights in U.S. Law to apply for this placement. Applications are made mid-fall for the following spring and mid-spring for the following fall.

In each semester, a different group of students undertake a full-time (40 hours per week) placement at the MCAD in Springfield, with professional supervision and responsibilities. Students also take a Legal Studies course at the 400 level, focused on practice and procedure at MCAD, state law, ethical dimensions of the work, and special problems of anti-discrimination work in Massachusetts.

In the fall semester, all the previous year’s project students will take the senior integrative seminar. The seminar is designed to reflect critically on the experience at MCAD, put MCAD’s work in the context of other conflict handling mechanisms, familiarize students with strengths and weaknesses of various ways of dealing with discrimination, integrate learning gained by students throughout their experience in the major, and engage in research relevant to civil rights law enforcement.

For further information, contact Professor Arons, tel. (413) 545-3536 or arons@legal. umass.edu or consult the Legal Studies website at www.umass.edu/legal/.

Internships

The department encourages students to pursue internships that will bridge the gap between the theory and practice of law. Students are required to work under the supervision of an attorney on matters that have a public interest component. Internship opportunities are posted on a bulletin board opposite Room 108 in Gordon Hall. For more information contact Judith Holmes, jholmes@legal.umass.edu or tel. (413) 545-2305.

Five College Legal Studies

The University’s Legal Studies Department is allied with law and law-related faculty in the four area colleges. Students at one school may take courses at any of the other schools. A listing of law-related courses in the Five Colleges is available in the department’s main office, or from Tami Paluca, tel. (413) 545-9698 or tlpaluca@legal.umass.edu.

Career Opportunities

The focus of Legal Studies is to help students become informed, active, well-rounded, critical thinkers about law and society. Modern society is increasingly dominated by law and legal consciousness and legal literacy is important for many careers.

Legal Studies graduates have found employment in the justice system; as mental health advocates, legislative aides, and teachers; and in other public agencies. Over 20 percent of legal studies graduates go on to law schools. A clear understanding of the role of law in modern society is increasingly important to any career concerning public issues. Legal Studies is useful preparation for graduate work in such fields as psychology, history, anthropology, natural sciences, journalism, economics, or sociology.

Legal Studies | Courses | Faculty