{"id":45136,"date":"2012-06-12T17:46:32","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T21:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/?page_id=45136"},"modified":"2025-06-06T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:15:10","slug":"jdma-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/law\/programs\/jdma-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Dual JD\/MA in History"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h3>Contact<\/h3>\n<p>For contact information, please visit the School of Law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/current-students\/jd-student-resources\/dual-degrees\/jdma-in-history\/\">website<\/a> and the Graduate School of Arts &amp; Sciences <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cas\/about\/about-grs\/\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Boston University offers qualified students the opportunity to combine the study of law with coursework in history. The dual degree program facilitates inquiry at the two fields\u2019 intersection in legal history. Successful candidates receive both the Juris Doctor (JD) degree and a Master of Arts (MA) degree.<\/p>\n<p>The dual degree program ordinarily can be completed in six terms, rather than the eight terms required to obtain each degree independently because some courses can be credited toward both degrees.<\/p>\n<h2>Learning Outcomes<\/h2>\n<h3>JD<\/h3>\n<p>Students will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Possess knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law;<\/li>\n<li>Possess\u00a0the ability to perform:\n<ul>\n<li>Legal analysis and reasoning<\/li>\n<li>Legal research<\/li>\n<li>Problem-solving<\/li>\n<li>Written communication in the legal context<\/li>\n<li>Oral communication in the legal context;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Understand the exercise of proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system; and<\/li>\n<li>Demonstrate the professional skills of collaboration, counseling, and negotiation needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession. All students will also demonstrate a basic understanding of business fundamentals and be able to read and understand basic financial documents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>MA in History<\/h3>\n<p>Students will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Demonstrate mastery of chosen subfield of history and related fields;<\/li>\n<li>Produce an original research paper based on archival and field research, with goal of publishing it as a scholarly article;<\/li>\n<li>Conduct all research and publication in an ethical manner; and<\/li>\n<li>Be prepared in regard to extent of knowledge to teach history at the advanced secondary level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Academic Requirements<\/h2>\n<p>To earn the MA, students must complete eight graduate courses (normally 32 units) in history. To earn the JD, students must earn at least 85 School of Law (LAW) units, and must comply with additional school requirements. The dual degree program allows students to receive joint units for some courses taken at BU Law and in the Department of History, subject to the limitations described below.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of History requires that dual degree students complete at least three graduate-level courses in history, the same three courses that are required for every MA candidate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CAS HI 801 The Historian\u2019s Craft<\/li>\n<li>CAS HI 808 Historiography<\/li>\n<li>CAS HI 809 Historical Methods<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Students must complete HI 808 and HI 809, offered in the fall term, before enrolling in HI 801, offered in spring. The above three history courses also may be applied to the JD, up to a maximum of 12 units total. Students apply these history courses to the JD during their second and third years of law school.<\/p>\n<p>To complete the eight courses required for the MA in History, students must take five additional courses chosen with the advisor\u2019s approval from graduate courses in history, LAW courses in legal history (drawn from the approved course list), or other graduate courses approved by the student\u2019s advisor. If the five additional courses are approved LAW courses, the student receives units for those courses both at the Graduate School or Arts &amp; Sciences (GRS) and at the School of Law.<\/p>\n<h3>Major Research Paper Requirement<\/h3>\n<p>The core requirement of the joint JD\/MA in History program is the major research paper. Students must write a research paper that is a work of original scholarship and research and that substantially engages both legal and historical subjects, methods, texts, and\/or analysis. This paper must: 1) satisfy the School of Law\u2019s Upperclass Writing Requirement; 2) be jointly supervised by a faculty member in the School of Law and one in the Department of History; and 3) be approved, in its final form, by a faculty member in the School of Law and one in the Department of History. (The research paper supervisor may also approve the paper on behalf of their school or department.)<\/p>\n<p>The research paper project begins with a detailed proposal for study, submitted to a member of the Joint Advisory Board. Students are strongly encouraged to submit proposals before the final year of law study, or, at the latest, by the beginning of that year. No proposal may be submitted after the end of the second week of the student\u2019s final term. Ordinarily, the joint major research paper will be a minimum of 30 pages (excluding notes).<\/p>\n<p>A student who writes the research paper in the context of a course or directed study in the Department of History may not also receive law school course units for the paper. Similarly, a student who submits the paper in partial or full satisfaction of a law school course or independent study may not also receive GRS course units for the paper.<\/p>\n<h2>Admissions<\/h2>\n<p>Students must be admitted to and registered in the School of Law before starting the MA in History at the Graduate School of Arts &amp; Sciences. For School of Law application procedures, please consult the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/prospective\/\">BU Law Admissions website<\/a>. For GRS application procedures, please consult the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/history\/graduate-program\/\">GRS Department of History website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Administration<\/h2>\n<p>The JD\/MA program is administered by a Joint Advisory Board. The Board includes one faculty member from the School of Law and one from the Department of History. A member of the Board is appointed as the student\u2019s advisor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contact For contact information, please visit the School of Law website and the Graduate School of Arts &amp; Sciences website. Boston University offers qualified students the opportunity to combine the study of law with coursework in history. The dual degree program facilitates inquiry at the two fields\u2019 intersection in legal history. Successful candidates receive both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2696,"featured_media":0,"parent":2092,"menu_order":20,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2696"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45136"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99037,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45136\/revisions\/99037"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}