Interdisciplinary Program in Legal Studies

Law is an intrinsically interdisciplinary field, integrating skills, themes and topics from across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The Legal Studies major is designed for students with an interest in the historical, philosophical, political, and social foundations of law and legal systems. The major provides students with a unique and truly interdisciplinary learning experience that examines the role of law in society from a range of disciplinary perspectives including History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Criminal Justice. This interdisciplinary spirit is captured by the novel structure of the introductory course, ULGL 100 (Introduction to Legal Studies), which includes topics from all four contributing units, serving as a gateway experience to seeing the law from different angles. Likewise, students are required to take at least two courses (one lower level, the other upper level) from across all four disciplines. The program has three tracks: a general track and two more specific tracks: law in theory and law in practice. The overarching objective is that students recognize the significance of approaching the law from multiple disciplinary perspectives, gaining crucial skills in critical reasoning and research techniques from all four disciplines. Legal Studies should appeal to a wide range of students, including traditional pre-law students who plan to go to law school, as well as students interested in learning more about the role of law in society and who may be considering graduate school or other professional pathways.

Co-Directors:

Matthew Ingram, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Ariel Zylberman, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy

Degree Requirements for the B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a faculty-initiated concentration in Legal Studies

A combined major and minor program with a minimum of 48 credits distributed as follows:

Foundational Course (3 Credits):

  • ULGL 100 Introduction to Legal Studies (3)

Lower Level Field Courses (12 Credits):

Select one:

  • APHI 202 Critical Thinking (3) 
  • APHI 210 Introduction to Logic (3) 

Select one:

  • AHIS 220 Public Policy in Modern America (3)
  • AHIS 292 Trials in United States History (3)
  • AHIS/RPOS 295 The Supreme Court and American Constitutional History (3)
  • AHST 201 History of Marriage and Family in the US (3) 

Select one:

  • RCRJ 201 Introduction to the Criminal Justice Process (3) 
  • RCRJ 202 Introduction to Law and Criminal Justice (3)

Select one:

  • RPOS 226 Introduction to Law and Politics (3)
  • RPOS/AHIS 295 The Supreme Court and the American Constitutional History (3)*

*If course is not chosen above in the History courses.

Upper Level Field Courses (12 Credits):

Select one:

  • APHI 316 Intensive Study Ethical Theory (3) 
  • APHI 320 Political and Social Philosophy (3)
  • APHI 325 Philosophy of Law (3)
  • APHI 326 Moral Philosophy (3)
  • APHI 334 Intensive Study History of Social and Political Philosophy (3) 
  • APHI 338 Moral Problems in Medicine (3)
  • APHI 355 Global Justice (3)
  • APHI 365 Environmental Ethics (3)
  • APHI 380 AI in Society: Ethical and Legal Issues (3)

Select one:

  • AHIS 313 Constitutional History of the United States (3)
  • AHIS 327 The Roles of Law in American History (3)
  • AHIS 328 Lawyers in American Life, 1607 to Present (3)
  • AHIS/AEAC 374 Crime and Punishment in Traditional China (3)

Select one:

  • RCRJ 353/RPOS 363 American Criminal Courts (3) 
  • A 400 level Criminal Justice Course

Select one:

  • RPOS 306 Contemporary Democratic Theory (3)
  • RPOS 307 American Political Theory (3)
  • RPOS 310 Contemporary Political Philosophy (3)
  • RPOS 317 Comparative Criminal Procedure (3)
  • RPOS 326 Introduction to Public Law (3)
  • RPOS 327 Comparative Judicial Politics (3)
  • RPOS/RPAD 328 Law and Policy (3)
  • RPOS 330 Law, Courts, and Politics (3)
  • RPOS/AWSS 333 Women and the Law (3)
  • RPOS 335 The American Supreme Court (3)
  • RPOS 336 Civil Liberties (3)
  • RPOS 344 Predicting the Supreme Court (3) 

Capstone: (3 Credits)

  • AHIS 489Z Senior Research Seminar (3)
  • APHI 409 Advanced Philosophy of Law (3)
  • APHI 410 Perspectives on Reasoning (3)
  • APHI 417 Bioethics (3)
  • APHI 425 Contemporary Ethical Theory (3)
  • APHI 438 Philosophy of Social Sciences (3)
  • APHI 474 Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy (3)
  • RCRJ 412Z Incarceration (4) 
  • RCRJ 420Z Communities and Crime (4) 
  • RCRJ 442Z Contemporary Issues in Policing (4) 
  • RCRJ 450Z Street-Level Bureaucracy (4) 
  • RCRJ 496Z Special Topics in Criminal Justice (4) 
  • RPOS/RPAD 410Z Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (3)
  • RPOS 425Z Justice Reform in Latin America (3)
  • RPOS 426Z American Constitutional Law I (3)
  • RPOS 427Z American Constitutional Law II (3)
  • RPOS 428Z Comparative Legal Systems (3)
  • RPOS 437Z Law and Society (3)
  • RPOS 449Z Topics in Public Law (3)

Tracks (18 Credits): 

Students choose one approved track and complete 18 upper level credits within the courses listed. Students may, with approval, apply up to 6 credits from outside the Philosophy, History, Criminal Justice, and Political Science departments to a track. Students may also apply, with approval, one course from Albany Law School to their track.

Law in Theory Track:

  • AHIS 313 Constitutional History of the United States (3)
  • AHIS/AREL 387 Islam in the Middle East: Religion and Culture I (3)
  • APHI 300 Intensive Study Latin American Philosophy (3) 
  • APHI 310 Ancient Philosophy (3) 
  • APHI 312 17th – 18th Century Philosophy (3)
  • APHI 319 Intensive Study Understanding Science (3) 
  • APHI 321 17th – 19th Century Ethical Theory (3)
  • APHI 325 Philosophy of Law (3)
  • APHI 326 Moral Philosophy (3)
  • APHI 331 Intensive Study Human Freedom and Human Action (3) 
  • APHI 332 Intermediate Logic (3)
  • APHI 333 Irrational and Rational Action (3)
  • APHI/AWSS 350 Philosophy and Feminism (3)
  • APHI 411 Advanced Philosophy of Law (3)
  • APHI 425 Contemporary Ethical Theory (3)
  • APHI 432 Completeness and Decidability (3)
  • APHI 438 Philosophy of Social Sciences (3)
  • APHI 474 Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy (3)
  • RPOS 306 Contemporary Democratic Theory (3)
  • RPOS 307 American Political Theory (3)
  • RPOS 310 Contemporary Political Philosophy (3)

Law in Practice Track:

  • AHIS 300 The History of American Indians and the United States (3)
  • AHIS 306 The Era of the American Revolution 1763-1815 (3)
  • AHIS 310 History of Women in the United States (3)
  • AHIS 311 History of American Foreign Policy I (3)
  • AHIS 312 History of American Foreign Policy II (3)
  • AHIS 325 The Quest for Equality in United States History (3)
  • AHIS 327 The Roles of Law in American History (3)
  • AHIS 328 Lawyers in American Life, 1607 to Present (3)
  • AHIS 329 American Environmental History (3)
  • AHIS 333 American Identity Since the Civil War (3)
  • AHIS 340 The French Revolution and Napoleon (3)
  • AHIS 366 War, Society, and Culture Since 1789 (3)
  • AHIS/AEAC 374 Crime and Punishment in Traditional China (3)
  • AHST 303 The Indigenous Past and Future (3)
  • AHST/AJST 358 East and West: Jews in the City (3)
  • AHST/ALCS 370 Race and Racism in the Americas (3)
  • AJST 341/AHIS 341 Issues in Biblical Civilization (3)
  • AJST 343 Issues in Medieval Jewish History (3)
  • APHI 338 Moral Problems in Medicine (3)
  • APHI 355 Global Justice (3)
  • APHI 365 Environmental Ethics (3)
  • APHI 417 Bioethics (3)  
  • RPOS 317 Comparative Criminal Procedure (3)
  • RPOS 326 Introduction to Public Law (3)
  • RPOS 327 Comparative Judicial Politics (3)
  • RPOS/RPAD 328 Law and Policy (3)
  • RPOS/AWSS 333 Women and the Law (3)
  • RPOS 335 The American Supreme Court (3)
  • RPOS 336 Civil Liberties (3)
  • RPOS 344 Predicting the Supreme Court (3)
  • RPOS 425Z Justice Reform in Latin America (3)
  • RPOS 426Z American Constitutional Law I (3)
  • RPOS 427Z American Constitutional Law II (3)
  • RPOS 449Z Topics in Public Law (3)

General Track:

Students may take 18 credits of courses from the track listings above or from course options within the major that have not been completed and are at the 300 level or higher.  No single course may be used to fulfill both the requirements of Upper Level Field Courses and Tracks.

Courses in Legal Studies

ULGL 100 Introduction to Legal Studies (3)

This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Legal Studies by examining the contributions of the disciplines of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Criminal Justice to the field. By exploring the interactions of historical, philosophical, political, and socio-cultural factors in the development of the law and its implementation and enforcement through the legal system, and by examining historical and contemporary inequities in the application of criminal justice, the course explores factors that contribute to group and individual identity formation involving, at a minimum, aspects of race, class, and gender. The course explores a range of themes such as the historical development of law, the nature of law and justice, the relationship between normative philosophical theory and law, the interplay between society and law, the concepts, patterns, causes, and consequences of crime, and the actors and institutions in the criminal justice system.