The School of Law at Case Western Reserve University prepares JD students to practice law in, among other areas, the fields of intellectual property and law and the arts. The MA in Art History and Museum Studies program, coordinated by the Department of Art History and Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art, is designed to provide students with a broad knowledge of the major art historical periods, of the historiography and critical methodologies of art history, and of museological practice and history, connoisseurship, conservation, and interpretation, through course work and museum internships. The dual degree program prepares students to participate in the fields of intellectual property and law and the visual arts and provides students with an opportunity to develop expertise in areas of substantive interest.
The School of Law requires 88 credit hours of coursework, including 36 hours of required courses and an upper-class writing requirement, for the JD degree. Most of the requirements are completed during the first year of the law program, which includes:
| LAWS 1100 | Introduction to Lawyering | 1 |
| LAWS 1202 | Constitutional Law I | 4 |
| LAWS 1201 | Civil Procedure | 4 |
| LAWS 1101 | Contracts | 4 |
| LAWS 1102 | Criminal Law | 4 |
| LAWS 1103 | Torts | 4 |
| LAWS 1203 | Property | 4 |
| LAWS 1801 | Core 1: Research, Writing, and Skills | 0 |
| LAWS 1802 | Core 2: Research, Writing, and Skills | 4 |
| Elective from approved list of perspective courses | 2 | |
In addition to the 31 credits of first year courses, JD students must complete LAWS 2001 Professional Responsibility and LAWS 2803 Core 3: Transaction, Writing, and Skills during their second year of study and LAWS 2804 Core 4: Strategic Representation of Clients in the semester after they take Core 3. Students must also fulfill an upper-class writing requirement (through participation in one of several law journals, completion of a 2-credit supervised research project, or completion of an approved writing requirement seminar or lab).
Students in the MA program in art history and museum studies must complete 31 hours of graduate credit, nine hours of which must be taken in the Law School to satisfy the dual JD/MA degree. In addition, students in the MA program must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one approved modern language other than English. They must also take the MA comprehensive examination at the conclusion of their art history studies.
The thirty-one hours of course work must be taken at the 400 level or higher, and be distributed as follows:
| ARTH 490A | Visual Arts and Museums I | 3 |
| ARTH 490B | Visual Arts and Museums: II | 3 |
| ARTH 491A | Visual Arts and Museums: Internship | 1 |
| ARTH 491B | Visual Arts and Museums: Internship | 3 |
| ARTH 495 | Methodologies of Art History | 3 |
| One course in each of the three following areas: * | 9 | |
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Pre-Modern (pre-1800)
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Modern (post-1800)
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Non-Western
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| Relevant Law School courses * | 9 | |
| * | Three of the courses in these two categories must be seminars; one must be an art history seminar |
The dual degree program requires students to complete 98 credit hours. Law students enrolled in the dual degree program may earn up to 12 credit hours toward the JD in graduate level Art History courses with the approval of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in advance of enrollment. Credit will not be given for work done in such courses before the student completes the first year of law school. Dual degree students would be required to complete 22 credit hours toward the MA. Nine hours of law school coursework will count toward the 31 hours required for the MA in Art History and Museum Studies. The Department of Art History and Art liaison must approve the law school courses that will count toward the MA.
Dual degree students generally begin study in the law school and defer enrollment in the MA program until their second year. (There may be exceptions to this general rule. In certain cases, for example, students may be permitted to take one course in the Art History department during the second semester of the first year of law school.) Students interested in completing the dual degree should consult both programs early in the process to avoid difficulties. After the first-year of law school, students may enroll in law courses or art history courses. While the program will not require students to complete a specific “core” in a “dedicated” semester in the art history, enrolled students must begin their course work with ARTH 495 Methodologies of Art History. The two semesters of ARTH 490 A & B: Visual Arts and Museums I and II must be taken in sequence; these are also the prerequisites for the required courses ARTH 491 A & B: Visual Arts and Museums Internship I & II. Completion of the dual degree program will take at least seven semesters, or three-and-a-half years of coursework.
Schedule
Year 1: First year law school curriculum. (31 hours)
Year 2, 3 & 4: Mixture of courses between the two units, including 22 hours of coursework in the Art History program and the MA comprehensive examination.
Credit Hour Requirements
- Total Hours in the School of Law: 76
- Total Hours in the Art History Department: 22
- Total Hours in the Dual Degree Program: 98
Dual Degree Student Advising System
Dual degree students are advised by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Law. In addition, dual degree students are granted priority registration for upper class courses, ensuring that they will be able to accommodate their scheduling needs in obtaining needed classes. In the Department of Art History and Art dual degree students will be advised by the Art History department liaison and the director of graduate studies.
Admissions
Students wishing to enroll in the dual degree program must be separately admitted to each program. The Department of Art History and Art will waive the GRE requirement for admission to the MA program and use the LSAT in the admissions process. Applicants can apply to the dual degree program when they apply to the School of Law or after the first year of enrollment in the School of Law. Once students have been admitted, they will consult with the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Law and the Department of Art History and Art liaison to determine their appropriate course of study.