Requirements

Admission Requirements

The program is administered by the Director of the Legal Studies Program, with the assistance of the Program Advisor.  Students are admitted only after they have already been admitted to a graduate program at the University of Delaware. They will fill out the Admissions Form, which includes the signature of the student's department chair or faculty advisor, indicating their approval.  Normally students will apply over the first year of a masters programs and the first two years for doctoral program.

Admission to the program requires no specific background. Undergraduate courses in law, legal studies or the social science could benefit the student, but are not mandatory. The Legal Studies Director will review the applicant's request and records to ensure that the student is in good standing and that the student will benefit from the Graduate Certificate Program.

As the certificate is a social science certificate, not a purely professional certificate, we require a serious research paper. This paper can be a part of another course, but normally would be all or a section of a master’s paper or Ph.D. dissertation. It also could be an independent study. It should be considered as the rough equivalent of a 3-credit research course, but a separate “course credit” is not required or expected. A member of the Legal Studies Associated Faculty will normally supervise this research (at least as the second reader). A final element of the social science approach is the research seminar. This course will introduce the student to current research in the area, and to ongoing interactions between scholars in doing research -- critique and response.

[Admissions Form]

Program Requirements

The program requires the following:

(1) Twelve credits of course work (normally, four courses) at the graduate level from a list of approved courses. Two of the four courses must be outside of the student’s graduate major. Two of the four courses must be “core” courses, one in the “law and society” area and one in general case law. The other two “elective courses” are selected from a list of approved legal studies courses (in addition to the core courses). Additional courses may be approved by the Director of Legal Studies.

(2) Students must take one semester of the pass-fail one-credit course Legal Studies Research Seminar, which provides them with an idea of how current research in the field of legal studies is carried out (now LEST 867). Students may substitute equivalent research methods training in their home discipline with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

(3) Regular attendance at Legal Studies Faculty Research Seminars and Colloquia. It is expected that students will attend a minimum of six such seminars or colloquia during the time they are enrolled in the program.

(4) A capstone research project. The capstone research project may be a master’s or Ph.D. research project. A member of the Legal Studies associated faculty should be on the committee. The capstone project also could be in a research paper in an advanced graduate course that included a large research project; if this alternative is selected, the research project should be approved by the Director of Legal Studies.