Professor Barzun Holds Info Session on J.D.-M.A. in Legal History
Professor Charles Barzun ’05 held an information session on Wednesday, October 30, to discuss the joint J.D.-M.A. Program in Legal History. In the program, students earn a J.D. at the Law School together with an M.A. from the history department in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Professor Barzun is the Director of the Program as well as a graduate.
The program is unique among joint degree programs at Virginia Law and elsewhere in that it imposes no additional time or financial burden on law students. Students earn both degrees in the same three years that it would take to earn a J.D., and students pay the same amount in tuition that they would pay for law school alone. The program accomplishes this by counting a number of classes toward both degrees, including required 1L courses like Torts or Constitutional Law, which have substantial historical content in the form of case law. On top of the regular course load for law students, participants will generally take one additional course in the history department for each semester of their 2L and 3L years.
Outside of coursework, students are assigned two faculty mentors, one at the Law School and one in the history department. They are also required to take part in a research course with history graduate students and write a thesis. Professor Barzun noted that students in the program have been disproportionately recognized for legal writing among all law students. In the past, the program also required an oral examination, but this is no longer the case. One wrinkle about the program is that because Arts and Sciences courses are not graded on the same curve as law school courses, they do not count towards a student’s GPA for purposes of the J.D.
The J.D.-M.A. Program was founded decades ago as a reflection of the Law School’s focus on legal history. Over time, some of the School’s legal historians have moved elsewhere, but the history department has developed a strength in the field and an interest in maintaining the program. For students today, the joint degree involves a lot of travel between the Law School and main grounds.
Professor Barzun said that, nowadays, the program has two main purposes. First, it provides support for students who are interested in legal academia. The M.A. degree itself—unlike a Ph.D.—does not necessarily add a significant credential for hiring committees, he said. However, the program supports students in exploring their scholarly interests and preparing a substantial written work, which is beneficial for students applying to academic jobs. Second, and more commonly, the program provides an opportunity for students who are interested in history to explore this interest before they leave school for good. The joint degree can allow a broader academic study of law than a typical pre-professional J.D., even for students who go on to work in firms or public service.
Professor Barzun responded to some questions and concerns during the session. Some students asked about the extent to which the program conflicts with other responsibilities. Professor Barzun suggested that the program could be seen as comparable to other activities like a clinic or journal—a significant commitment, but not necessarily prohibitive. Because of its added coursework, the program can be seen as a kind of “curricular extracurricular,” he said. However, it could prevent students from studying additional interests outside of core law classes and legal history, simply because there are only so many credits that can fit into three years.
One student also asked how the program might be seen by employers outside of academia. While it probably wouldn’t be a significant benefit for most employers, Professor Barzun said that he didn’t think it would be a problem, either, and it might be an interesting way for students to set themselves apart. At most, students might want to clarify that it wouldn’t affect their timeline for beginning a job.
First-year students who plan to enter the program will need to apply in the spring semester. The application is fairly easy, requiring a short statement of interest and recommendation letters, which can be from the same individuals who wrote letters for law school. It no longer requires standardized tests. In the meantime, students might think about their potential interests and look at relevant faculty listed on the UVA website. Students can unenroll from the program once admitted. However, resource constraints mean that in recent years, more students have applied for the program than have been accepted. Students should be sure that they intend to complete the joint degree when they enroll, since beginning the program could mean taking a spot from someone else.
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