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JD/MA (Art History and Museum Studies)

The Dual JD/MA Degree Program in Law, Art History and Museum Studies

Background and Justification

The dual degree program will prepare students to participate in the fields of intellectual property and law and the visual arts as well as give students an opportunity to develop expertise in areas of substantive interest.

Program Structure

The Department of Art History will accept the LSAT as its entrance examination for admission into the joint degree program. Students in the M.A. program in art history and museum studies must complete 31 hours of graduate credit, nine hours of which must be taken in the Law School to satisfy the dual JD/MA degree. (See below for a list of Law School courses.)

The thirty-one hours of course work must be taken at the 400 level or higher, and be distributed as follows:

  • ARTH 490 A & B: Visual Arts and Museums I and II (six credits)
  • ARTH 491 A & B: Visual Arts and Museums Internship I & II (four credits)
  • ARTH 495: Methodologies of Art History (three credits)
  • One in each of the three following areas (nine credits) (See Section VIII.B for a list of specific courses):
    • Pre-Modern (pre-1800)
    • Modern (post-1800)
    • Non-Western
  • Relevant Law School Courses (9 credit hours) (See Section VII.A for list of specific courses)

The dual degree program would require students to complete 98 credit hours. Law students enrolled in the dual degree program could earn up to 12 credit hours toward the JD in graduate level Art History courses with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in advance of enrollment. Credit would generally not be given for work done in such courses before the student completes the first year of law school. Dual degree students would be required to complete 22 credit hours toward the MA (See Sections III.) Nine hours of law school coursework will count toward the 31 hours required for the MA in Art History and Museum Studies. (See Section below for a list of law school courses.)

Dual Degree Curriculum

Dual degree students will generally begin study in the law school and defer enrollment in the MA program until their second year. After the first-year of law school, students may enroll in law courses or art history courses; the program will not require students to complete a specific "core" in a "dedicated" semester in the Art History department. Completion of the dual degree program will take at least seven semesters, or three-and-a-half years of coursework.

Year 1: First year law school curriculum. (30 hours)

Year 2, 3 & 4: Mixture of courses between the two units, including completing the upper class writing requirement and Professional Responsibility in the School of Law and 22 hours of coursework in the Art History program.

Credit Hour Requirements

Total Hours in the School of Law:                     76
Total Hours in the Art History Department:   22
Total Hours in the Dual Degree Program:       98

Admissions

Students wishing to enroll in the dual degree program must be separately admitted to each program. The Art History department will waive the GRE requirement for admission to the MA program and use the LSAT in the admissions process. Once students have been admitted, they will consult with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Law and the Art History department liaison to determine their appropriate course of study.

Law School and Art History Courses

In addition to the required law school and art history courses set forth above, dual degree candidates are required to take 18 credit hours - nine from the law school and nine from the Art History department - from the following list of courses.

Law School courses for MA students (9 credit hours required):
  • LAWS 4300: Intellectual Property Survey (2)
  • LAWS 4301: Copyright Law (3)
  • LAWS 4303: Trademark Law (3)
  • LAWS 5325: Law and the Visual Arts (Seminar) (2)
  • LAWS 318: Law of Archeological Relics (Seminar) (2)
  • LAWS 4402: Non-Profit Organizations (3)
  • LAWS 561: International Issues in Intellectual Property Law (2)
  • LAWS 5324: Law of the Music Industry (3)
  • LAWS 37: Copyright in the Digital Millennium (Seminar) (3)
  • LAWS 438: Internet Business and the Law (2)
Current Art History courses for JD students (9 credit hours required):
  • ARTH 402. Buddhist Art in Asia (3)
  • ARTH 403. History of Far Eastern Art (3)
  • ARTH 404. Art of West Africa (3)
  • ARTH 411. Rome: City and Image (3)
  • ARTH 428. Greek Sculpture (3)
  • ARTH 432. Art and Archaeology of Ancient Italy (3)
  • ARTH 433. Greek and Roman Painting (3)
  • ARTH 434. Art and Archaeology of Greece (3)
  • ARTH 435. Issues in Ancient Art (3)
  • ARTH 440. Issues in the Art of China (3)
  • ARTH 441. Issues in the Art of Japan (3)
  • ARTH 444. Issues in the Art of Africa (3)
  • ARTH 450. Issues in Medieval Art (3)
  • ARTH 451. Late Gothic Art in Italy (3)
  • ARTH 452. Italian Art of the 15th Century (3)
  • ARTH 453. Sixteenth Century Italian Art (3)
  • ARTH 456. Italian Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture (3)
  • ARTH 460. Renaissance Art in Northern Europe (3)
  • ARTH 461. Dutch and Flemish 17th Century Painting (3)
  • ARTH 462. Issues in Renaissance Art (3)
  • ARTH 465. Issues in Baroque Art (3)
  • ARTH 467. 17th and 18th Century French Art (3)
  • ARTH 474. Impressionism to Symbolism (3)
  • ARTH 479. Issues in 19th Century Art (3)
  • ARTH 480. Abstract Expressionism and Its Aftermath (3)
  • ARTH 481. Neoclassicism to Realism (3)
  • ARTH 482. Visions of Utopia: 20th Century European Art (3)
  • ARTH 483. Gender Issues in Feminist Art: The 20th/21st Century (3)
  • ARTH 484. American Art and Architecture in the Age of Washington and Jefferson (3)
  • ARTH 485. American Avant-Garde: 1900 - 1925 (3)
  • ARTH 492. Issues in 20th/21st Century Art (3)
  • ARTH 493. Contemporary Art: Critical Directions (3)
  • ARTH 497. History of Prints and Printmaking (3)
  • ARTH 512. Seminar in Ancient Art (3)
  • ARTH 518B. Seminar in Asian Art (3)
  • ARTH 540. Seminar in Non-Western Art (3)
  • ARTH 545B. Seminar in Medieval Art (3)
  • ARTH 550. Seminar: Issues in Western European Art (3)
  • ARTH 551. Seminar in Renaissance Art (3)
  • ARTH 552. Seminar in Baroque Art (3)
  • ARTH 565. Seminar in American Art (3)
  • ARTH 570. Seminar: 19th Century Art (3)
  • ARTH 575. Critical Theory Seminar (3)
  • ARTH 576. Seminar in Modern Art (3)