History & Law Minor

Students in the History and Law Minor will explore legal history, a vital and exciting field that historicizes the study of law while using legal sources to enrich our understanding of the past.

The minor acquaints students with key arguments and concepts in the field as well as major personalities, institutions, and debates in the legal histories of the United States, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.  It also introduces students to international topics such as slavery, genocide, human rights, and legal pluralism, and to international institutions like the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) and International Criminal Court (ICC) in a historical context.

The minor consists of 18 credits. Students must take the two required courses, together worth 6 credits, and four of the elective courses, together worth 12 credits.

Required Courses (6 credits)
HIS 277 American Legal History
HIS 344 Topics in Legal History

Elective Courses (12 credits)
HIS 224 History of Crime in New York City
HIS 323 History of Lynching and Collective Violence
HIS 325 Criminal Justice in European Society since 1750
HIS 352 History and Justice in the Wider World:
                Colonial Justice in Africa, South Asia, and Middle East; Genocide in Latin America and
                Caribbean; and History of Human Rights
HIS 354 Law and Society in Ancient Athens and Rome
HIS 359 History of Islamic Law
HIS 368 Law and Society in the Ancient Near East
HIS 374 Premodern Punishment
HIS 375 Female Felons in the Premodern World

For more information contact Prof. Sara McDougall - smcdougall@jjay.cuny.edu