Jurisprudence, Law and Justice Studies
The goal of the Jurisprudence, Law, and Justice Studies Program is to provide students with the analytical and empirical foundation to understand how the theory, practice, and meaning of law stimulates civic engagement.
About the Minor
In Hamilton’s Jurisprudence, Law, and Justice Studies Program, students engage in the study of the law through interdisciplinary coursework that emphasizes writing, speaking, and logical reasoning. They engage with the law through studying the Constitution, exploring free-speech issues, examining the psychological formation of attitudes toward lawbreakers, arguing legal cases, reading the writing of imprisoned people, understanding court procedures, and more.
A Sampling of Courses
Law and Justice Laboratory: Internship and Observation
This course must be taken with GOVT 273. Students will select two 3 hour, half-day periods each week on Thursdays or Fridays. One half-day will be spent in an internship in the local criminal justice system (e.g., public defender, legal services, mental health court, district attorney) which will be arranged with the assistance of Judge Ralph Eannace, Utica Municipal Court. The other half-day will be spent observing courtroom proceedings. The course also requires one evening meeting each week, which will focus on shaping student work into a publishable report. Anechiarico and Eannace.
Explore these select courses:
Meet Our Faculty
Keelah Williams
Assistant Professor of Psychology; Director Jurisprudence, Law and Justice Studies
law, stereotyping and prejudice, and evolutionary psychology
public administration, public ethics, and law and society
American politics, executive branch institutions, judicial institutions, and bureaucratic politics
Doran Larson
Edward North Chair of Greek and Greek Literature and Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
20th-century American literature; the history of the Anglo-American novel; fiction writing; nonfiction writing and prison writing of the U.S., South Africa, and Ireland
Explore Hamilton Stories
Why So Few Black Women on the Bench? Johnson Answers
“Why aren’t there more Black female judges on the federal bench?” an op-ed by Associate Professor of Government Gbemende Johnson published in The Washington Post, addresses President Biden’s campaign pledge to appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court and his record-breaking number of federal court appointments of Black women.
Tatum Barclay ’22 to Study at Georgetown Law
Tatum Barclay ’22, a soon-to-be Georgetown Law student, has been inspired by the field of law since childhood. A diagnosis of dyslexia in fourth grade brought with it “extra difficulties” in reading and writing for her, but also a passion for verbal communication and learning.
Police Districts Use Partnership Racial Justice Report
“We have been building bridges,” says Professor of Government Frank Anechiarico, who has been leading the College/Community Partnership for Racial Justice since its inception last summer.
Careers After Hamilton
Hamilton graduates who minored in jurisprudence, law and justice studies courses are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
- Government Affairs Assistant, Direct Marketing Association
- Paralegal, Federal Trade Commission
Contact
Department Name
Jurisprudence, Law and Justice Studies Program
Contact Name
Keelah Williams, Director
Clinton, NY 13323
