Legal Studies Concentration

Page Contents:01.About Concentration02.Subject Requirements03.Additional Resources

About the concentration

The Legal Studies concentration introduces students to the academic field of legal studies. Scholars in legal studies draw on disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. The concentration likewise expects students to sample the breadth of legal studies as an interdisciplinary field by exploring the law from multiple perspectives.

Students will study legal texts and practices, the role of law in processes of social change, and the relationship of law to other forms of intellectual inquiry. Students will also develop analytical skills commonly associated with legal reasoning, gain an understanding of the practice of law in the United States and other nations, and explore law’s relationship to social structures such as politics, economics, and identity.

Supreme Court of the United States, Washington D.C.

Subject requirements

To fulfill the requirements, take four subjects. These should be selected in consultation with the concentration advisor and include at least two from the “Law and Social Science” subfield. A HASS concentration may include only one subject that also counts toward the HASS Distribution Requirement. Additional subjects cannot count as HASS Distribution subjects in your degree audit.

Theory and Philosophy of Law

17.01J/24.04J Justice; CI-H (HASS-H)

17.021J/24.235J Philosophy of Law (HASS-H)

17.035J/21H.181J Libertarianism in History (HASS-H)

Law and Social Science

11.166 Law, Social Movements, and Public Policy: Comparative and International Experiences (HASS-S)

17.251 Congress and the American Political System I (HASS-S)

17.261 Congress and the American Political System II (HASS-S)

21H.227 Constitutional Law in U.S. History (HASS-S)

Law and Policy

1.801J/11.021J/17.393J/IDS.060J Environmental Law, Policy and Economics: Pollution Prevention and Control (HASS-S)

11.148 Environmental Justice: Law and Policy (HASS-S)

11.401 Introduction to Housing, Community and Economic Development (Graduate level)

21H.319 Race, Crime, and Citizenship in American Law (HASS-S)

21H.320J/WGS.161J Gender and the Law in U.S. History (HASS-H)

STS.085J/6.805J Foundations of Information Policy (HASS-S)

Students may count subjects taken at Wellesley and Harvard with permission of the advisor. Relevant subjects that are no longer offered and subjects with variable topics (such as “special subjects” or “selected topics” courses) may also be counted at the discretion of the advisor.

Additional resources

For more information, contact the concentration advisor, Christopher Capozzola. Alternately, contact the History Office or SHASS academic administrator for support.

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