Maurer School of Law

Departmental E-mail: lawadmis [at] indiana [dot] edu

Departmental URL: www.law.indiana.edu 

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin. Requirements may or may not be reflected identically in departmental URLs.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Graduate degrees in Law include the Doctor of Philosophy in Law and Social Science, the combined M.A. in Journalism and J.D. in Law, the combined M.A. or M.S. in Telecommunications and J.D. in Law, and a Ph.D. minor in Law.

Additionally, although professional rather than graduate degrees, the Maurer School of Law offers Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.), Master of Laws (L.L.M.), the Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.), Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degrees. Joint professional degree programs include combined Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) and J.D. in Law, combined Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) or Master of Science in Environmental Science (M.S.E.S.) and J.D. in Law, and combined Master of Library Science (M.L.S.) and J.D. in Law. For information regarding these degrees, see the website or bulletin of the Maurer School of Law.

Special School Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law and Social Science

This program is designed to allow qualified students to pursue interdisciplinary research and problem solving in areas where law and social science overlap. The specialized Law and Democ­racy track within this degree program provides an interdisci­plinary course of study focused on the way that law structures democracy. This track allows students to learn about the role of law in new and fragile democracies through coursework and experience in the field, training in the law and the social sciences, and comparative analyses of the experience of the United States and other countries. Inquiries about the general degree or the specialized track may be addressed to the Office of International Programs of the School of Law.

Joint Degree Programs

The Maurer School of Law offers several formal joint-degree programs that allow students to combine a law program with programs from other Indiana University schools and departments. These joint-degree programs allow students to earn a J.D. and either a master’s degree or a Ph.D. in another discipline. Joint degrees decrease the time, typically by a year, that students would spend earning both degrees separately. Joint-degree programs with other disciplines may be individually designed and struc­tured to meet students’ learning and career goals. Proposals for such individually designed programs should initially be submitted to the Maurer School of Law. The Law School will coordi­nate with the other school or department to establish the joint or concurrent program.
 
Candidates for joint-degree programs are encouraged to apply for admission to each school at the same time. However, law students can apply for admission to the other school or depart­ment before the end of the second year of law study. Students enrolled in master’s programs at other schools and depart­ments should apply for admission to the Law School before the end of the first year of the master’s program. Each degree has required course work. Joint degrees are awarded at the same time, and all requirements in both schools must be completed in order to receive each degree.
 
Whether in a formal or individually structured joint-degree program, students typically spend their first year at the Law School. Thereafter, course time is divided between the Law School and the other school or department in whatever way best meets the educational objectives of the student and the program requirements.
 
As a general rule, joint-degree programs do not require aca­demic work during the summer recess, permitting joint-degree candidates to take advantage of opportunities for internships, clerkships, and summer associate programs.

Joint Degree: Master of Arts in Journalism and Doctor of Jurisprudence in the Maurer School of Law

Admission Requirements

Students may apply to the School of Journalism on the Bloom­ington campus at the same time they apply to the Maurer School of Law. Students already enrolled in Maurer School of Law may apply to the School of Journalism up to the completion of their second year of law study. Students enrolled in the School of Journalism may apply to the School of Law up to the end of their first year of the master’s program. Students would customarily spend the first year in the Maurer School of Law and thereafter divide the second, third and fourth years between the two units.

Credit Hours

The joint program would require a minimum of 79 hours in law and 30 hours in journalism, including a thesis.

Curriculum

Master of Arts Degree, Research and Teaching Track

A total of 30 credit hours in journalism, including J500, Intro­duction to Mass Media Research; J510, Media and Society Seminar; J800, M.A. Thesis and 21 additional credit hours in journalism.

Master of Arts Degree, Professional Track

A total of 30 credit hours in journalism, including the core offerings of J560, Intensive Reporting, Writing, and Editing Workshop I; J560, Intensive Reporting, Writing, and Editing Workshop II; J510, Media and Society Seminar; J572, The Press and the Constitution; one visual professional skills course, two other professional skills courses, and nine additional hours of electives.

School of Law Requirements

Students must complete 79 credit hours in law, including all degree requirements for the J.D.

Joint Degree: Master of Arts/Master of Science in Telecommunications and Doctor of Jurisprudence in the Maurer School of Law

The Maurer School of Law and the Department of Telecommunications offer joint Doctor of Jurisprudence/—Master of Arts or/Master of Science degrees. Under the program, students may complete both the J.D. and the M.A. or M.S. in Telecommunications in eight semesters.
 
Interested students usually apply to the Law School and the Department of Telecommunications at the same time; how­ever, a person already enrolled in the Law School may apply for admission to the Department of Telecommunications up to the completion of the second year of law study. A student enrolled in telecommunications may seek admission to the School of Law up to the end of the first year of the master’s program.

Students customarily spend the first year in the School of Law and thereafter divide the second, third, and fourth years between the two units. Requirements for graduation are 79 credit hours in law (including all degree requirements) and 27 credit hours in telecommunications courses (including all of its required coursework) as well as a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.3 on all work taken in the School of Law and at least 3.0 on all work taken in the Telecommunications department.

Ph.D. Minor in Law

The Maurer School of Law offers a minor in Law for Ph.D. students from other fields, which requires completion of 13-16 credit hours of course work. There are two required courses: a basic method­ological course, such as contracts, torts, property, constitution­al law, criminal law, or civil procedure; and either a research seminar or independent research. Other courses to be taken will depend on the student’s interests and needs and shall be recommended by the assigned faculty advisor from the Maurer School of Law and approved by the student’s Ph.D. advisory committee as well as the appropriate chairperson or the dean of the student’s school. Examinations are required for individual courses, but none is required for the minor itself.

The minor chairperson in the Maurer School of Law is Associate Dean Leonard Fromm, Room 0224, (812) 855-4809.