By
Rebecca Missel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Workshops combine law with philosophy, sociology, psychology and anthropology topics
After taking courses in legal history and practices, law students now have a chance to study new topics like the psychological behaviors of criminals and the societal implications of law.
The UA Rogers Program in Law, Philosophy and Social Inquiry began this fall as a part of a $137 million donation to the University of Arizona College of Law from benefactor James Rogers.
This new, interdisciplinary program combines faculty from the philosophy, sociology, psychology and anthropology departments to lead year-long workshops on law-related topics.
"Rogers provided the seed money to get us going," said Bernard Harcourt, program director. He was unable to disclose the exact amount.
The program consists of an annual workshop on law and social control. The group of about 35 students and faculty meet 10 times a year, said Harcourt, who is also an associate law professor.
The workshops are open to the university public, regardless of department affiliation, and the next session meets on Thursday, Oct. 19.
"I'm hoping to stimulate interdisciplinary research to build bridges between the law school and other departments at the university," Harcourt said. "I'm interested in rethinking the way we go about looking at law."
With its multi-faceted academic focus, students outside of the College of Law will have a chance to consider the relationship between law and society.
"I hope this unusual opportunity is attractive to those who aspire to academic careers rather than the legal profession," said Chris Maloney, head of the philosophy department. "It should be a vehicle for people with different backgrounds."
Eventually, the program might offer certificates, but for now, Harcourt said students will participate in any of eight joint-degree programs already established in fields such as law and philosophy and law and psychology.
"We're revving up to offer courses at the law school to meet these majors in philosophy, sociology, psychology and anthropology by the fall semester," he said. "I'd also like to see a visiting scholars program where we bring people to Tucson and develop publications."
The non-credit nature of the program has made some students reluctant to join despite their interest in the topics, said Craig LaChance, a third-year law student who has participated in the program.
"If there's something more substantive, it's going to attract more people," he said.
Annual conferences sponsored by Rogers' donations from will be held in addition to the courses and workshops. The first conference meets in January, and will discuss guns in society.
"This is a place where we can do interdisciplinary work and take advantage of the different schools," said Roger Levesque, an associate professor of psychology who coordinates his department with the program.
"Being in the presence of these top departments is really wonderful," he said. "They have a cutting edge focus."
Levesque said he would like to see the program discuss various public interest issues, such as law reform. He will also teach a course on child maltreatment and the law this fall.
Another primary goal of the UA Rogers program is to open a dialogue between students across the university, LaChance said.
"It always helps to broaden your horizons," he said. "There's a lot of philosophy and sociology that goes into law - people tend to ignore that and treat law school as only job training."
