Legal Studies

Recognizing that law, legal processes, and concepts are integrally involved in political, social, environmental, economic, scientific, and other issues, Hampshire College has given legal studies a significant place in its curriculum.

Our pioneering Law Program, established in 1970, was the first undergraduate legal studies program in the nation. It offers an innovative interdisciplinary approach to the study of law, as well as a number of exciting opportunities for engaging legal questions outside the classroom.

Some students choose to focus primarily on law, while others include legal perspectives as a secondary focus. Advanced students create concentrations in which law interacts with their interests in philosophy, international relations, environmental studies, or community organizing.

• Law, Identity, and Bioscience
• African Americans and the Politics of Reparations
• Critical Bioethics
• Citizenship, Freedom and the Good Life
• Border Matters: Mexico & the U.S.
• Constitutionally Queer: Law and Politics of Sexuality
• Critical Race Theory
• Environmental Policy in a Time of Globalization
• Ethnography of Law, Science and Medicine
• Feminist Legal Theory
• Freedom of Expression
• Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
• Human Rights Law and Culture
• International Human Rights Tribunals
• Law, Identity & Bioscience
• Law and Society
• Patriot(ic) Acts: Law and the Production of Difference
• People Out of Place: Bodies, Borders and Documents
• Politics of the Abortion Rights Movement
• Science in the Courtroom
• War on Terror: Exception or Business as Usual?
• Women, Law and Sex in the Mediterranean, 1300-1800
• Law & Conscience (UMass)
• Punishment, Politics & Culture (AC)
• Race, Place & the Law (AC)
• Social Organization of Law (AC)

Requirements

• Common Application
• An academic paper in English
• Supplemental essay responses
• Current transcripts
• School report, including guidance counselor recommendation
• At least one letter of recommendation from a teacher
• Certification of Finances form
• TOEFL or IELTS score (Minimum TOEFL score of 91 or a minimum IELTS score of 6.5. Predicted grades for IB English A1 or A2, or for A-level English, will also be considered.
• Additional letters of recommendation, up to three

Scholarships

• MacArthur Foundation Grant Making Programs
• American Association of University Women
• Fulbright International Scholarship Program for non-US students