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):

  • U LGL 100 Introduction to Legal Studies (3)

Lower Level Field Courses (12 Credits):

Select one:

  • A PHI 202 Critical Thinking (3) 
  • A PHI 210 Introduction to Logic (3) 

Select one:

  • A HIS 220 Public Policy in Modern America (3)
  • A HIS 292 Trials in United States History (3)
  • A HIS/R POS 295 The Supreme Court and American Constitutional History (3)
  • A HST 201 History of Marriage and Family in the US (3) 

Select one:

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

Select one:

  • R POS 226 Introduction to Law and Politics (3)
  • R POS/A HIS 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:

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

Select one:

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

Select one:

  • R CRJ 353/R POS 363 American Criminal Courts (3) 
  • A 400 level Criminal Justice Course

Select one:

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

Capstone: (3 Credits)

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

  • A HIS 313 Constitutional History of the United States (3)
  • A HIS 340 The French Revolution and Napoleon (3)
  • A HIS/A REL 387 Islam in the Middle East: Religion and Culture I (3)
  • A PHI 300 Intensive Study Latin American Philosophy (3) 
  • A PHI 310 Ancient Philosophy (3) 
  • A PHI 312 17th – 18th Century Philosophy (3)
  • A PHI 319 Intensive Study Understanding Science (3) 
  • A PHI 321 17th – 19th Century Ethical Theory (3)
  • A PHI 325 Philosophy of Law (3)
  • A PHI 326 Moral Philosophy (3)
  • A PHI 331 Intensive Study Human Freedom and Human Action (3) 
  • A PHI 332 Intermediate Logic (3)
  • A PHI 333 Irrational and Rational Action (3)
  • A PHI/A WSS 350 Philosophy and Feminism (3)
  • A PHI 411 Advanced Philosophy of Law (3)
  • A PHI 425 Contemporary Ethical Theory (3)
  • A PHI 432 Completeness and Decidability (3)
  • A PHI 438 Philosophy of Social Sciences (3)
  • A PHI 474 Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy (3)
  • R POS 306 Contemporary Democratic Theory (3)
  • R POS 307 American Political Theory (3)
  • R POS 310 Contemporary Political Philosophy (3)

Law in Practice Track:

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

U LGL 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.