Jurisprudence, Law and Society Major (B.A.)

Coordinator: Dr. Marilyn Tayler

The Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence, Law and Society provides a solid foundation for students aspiring to law school and other graduate study, as well as for work in many other careers that require analytic, conceptual, and communications skills. It provides an opportunity for the interdisciplinary study of law in the liberal arts. The major in Jurisprudence represents the confluence of law, theories of justice, humanistic studies and social issues.

Through this major, undergraduate students at Montclair State University have the opportunity to acquire the fundamental knowledge essential to understanding legal institutions and processes. Students in the major develop intellectual skills necessary to evaluate policies, practices, and philosophies within the context of nation and legal systems.

The major draws its essence from a core of Jurisprudence courses, while at the same time building upon the liberal arts focus of discipline-based courses at the university. The capstone experience of the major is a rigorous Senior Research Seminar. This two part, year-long course involves intensive research and writing in a seminar setting. Students prepare a scholarly interdisciplinary, law related, research paper, developed in consultation with a faculty advisor and designed to enhance the student's understanding of the field. Many law schools find the Senior Seminar particularly advantageous in student preparation.

Program objectives include:

1. To sharpen skills as readers and thinkers, as interpreters of culture, and as citizens.
2. To advance the ability to test ethical arguments and textual understandings in contexts where decisions must be made.
3. To understand legal materials, by further developing students interpretive and analytical skills.
4. To study the role of law in the liberal arts by inviting an examination of a wide range of critical questions about people and the ways they live together, to raise issues traditionally linked to liberal inquiry.
5. To participate in a rigorous two-semester Capstone Research Seminar which encompasses intellectual preparation for thinking processes, expands the knowledge base and enhances preparation for law-related study.

In addition to the general criteria for admission to Montclair State University, all students must apply to and be admitted into Jurisprudence, Law and Society major. For entry into the program students must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Top twenty percent of high school graduating class.
2. An overall minimum GPA of 3.0 at the completion of a minimum of 24 credits at Montclair State University or transfer institution.
3. An overall minimum GPA of 3.0 in the student's first three courses in the Jurisprudence major.

Program Requirements