JD/PhD Joint Degree Option
JD/PHD Joint Degree Option
PURPOSE: The joint degree program provides an opportunity for students to develop deep expertise combining study in Modern Thought and Literature with law, providing strong preparation for academic positions relating to both fields.
FORMAT: Faculty advisors from both Law and MTL will approve the course of study and participate in the supervision of each student’s joint degree program. Because of the broad intersection between law and the kinds of interdisciplinary inquiry encompassed by MTL, teaching and training of joint degree students will extend broadly across both faculties.
The Law School shall approve courses from the MTL student’s interdisciplinary program of study that may count toward the J.D. degree, and the Program in MTL shall approve courses from the Law School that may count toward the Ph.D. degree in Modern Thought and Literature. In either case, approval may consist of a list applicable to all joint degree students or may be tailored to each individual student’s program.
APPLICATION: Students interested in the joint degree program must apply and gain entrance separately to the School of Law and the Ph.D. program in Modern Thought and Literature Interest in the joint degree program should be noted in the applicant’s statement of purpose and may be considered by the admissions committee of each program. Alternatively, an enrolled student in either program may apply for admission to the other program and for joint degree status in both academic units after commencing study in either program.
SCHEDULE OF REQUIREMENTS: Students must satisfy the requirements for both the J.D. and the Ph.D. degrees as specified. The sequencing and schedules for individual joint degree students may vary substantially depending on background, interests, and the guidance of faculty advisors. Joint degree students may elect to begin their course of study in either the School of Law or the Program in Modern Thought and Literature. However, whenever a student begins the course of study in Law, the student must be enrolled full time in the Law School for the entire first year curriculum in law. At all other times, enrollment may be in either academic unit, and students may choose courses from either program regardless of where enrolled.
FUNDING: All applicants admitted to the MTL Ph.D. are offered the same five-year funding package. For the School of Law, joint degree students shall be eligible for the same scholarships and grants as students who are not pursuing a joint degree. This is ideally a six-year program, with MTL providing funding for five of those six years. (If additional funding is needed to complete the joint-degree program, the student must apply for competitive dissertation grants or other funding).
For more information, please contact Bernadette Meyler (bmeyler [at] law.stanford.edu (bmeyler[at]law[dot]stanford[dot]edu))