By Gwyneth K. Shaw

When Professor Sarah Song joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 2007, the school’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) Program was a major draw. 

“When it was founded in 1978, JSP was the first interdisciplinary law-focused Ph.D. program in the U.S. and it continues to be the leading program of its kind anywhere,” she says.

Song, who has a Ph.D. in political science, specializes in political and legal philosophy, citizenship and immigration law and policy, and freedom of speech and religion. Her books include Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism and Immigration and Democracy, and her scholarship has been widely published in academic journals and edited volumes. 

Teaching in JSP — and enjoying the cross-cutting nature of the program and her faculty colleagues — is an ideal fit.

“What makes JSP special is our shared commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship on law and its real-world impact,” she says. “JSP faculty are leading scholars trained in different specialities yet united in our goal of mentoring students pursuing cutting-edge research. Students have the freedom to bring different multiple perspectives and methodologies to bear in their study of pressing questions about how law shapes and is shaped by our world. 

“Being part of the law school gives JSP an edge over other graduate programs where law is far less central and less integrated into disciplinary training.”

Now, Song has the chance to dig deeper and make her own mark on the program: Last fall, she began a three-year term as associate dean for JSP and the booming undergraduate Legal Studies Program. 

She’s already appointed a graduate program review committee to do a holistic review of the doctoral program and make recommendations about how to improve the student experience. 

“I am excited to do whatever I can to support JSP’s mission of producing outstanding interdisciplinary legal scholars and teachers,” Song says. “I am also excited to connect current students with our amazing network of over 150 JSP alumni through programming that helps students envision academic career pathways. I hope we can continue hiring stellar new faculty and recruiting the best doctoral students in the country and internationally despite stiff competition from other top institutions.”

A unique blend

JSP grew out of the demise of UC Berkeley’s Criminology Department in the 1970s. Over nearly half a century, the program has trained students working at the intersection of a wide range of social science and humanities fields, including economics, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology. 

These days — with a Ph.D. increasingly essential to unlocking jobs in legal academia — the program offers a unique opportunity to study with such a range of experts. JSP has become Berkeley Law’s pipeline into academia, placing graduates in law schools, disciplinary departments, and interdisciplinary programs. 

Several of Song’s Berkeley Law colleagues are JSP alums, including Professors Jonathan Simon J.D. ’87 Ph.D. ’90, Catherine Albiston J.D. ’93 Ph.D. ’01, Adam Badawi J.D.’03 Ph.D. ’04, Joy Milligan Ph.D. ’18, Asad Rahim Ph.D. ’19, and Diana S. Reddy Ph.D. ’23. 

The Legal Studies Program is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts major that engages the meanings, values, practices, and institutions of law and legality. It’s grown significantly in recent years and now has more than 500 students majoring in the program. Many courses are taught by Berkeley Law faculty, with the same interdisciplinary approach taken in JSP classes. 

UC Berkeley undergraduates have gravitated toward the program for a number of reasons, Song says. Those considering law school are drawn in to understand how the legal system operates and get some insight into law as a profession. Some students in the major have family members who have had contact with the legal system and that experience has motivated them to acquire deeper knowledge of law. Students also see Legal Studies as a welcoming and inclusive major, which has helped attract first-generation and transfer students, she adds.

“What sets our Legal Studies program apart is its broad, interdisciplinary approach to the study of law. It enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the graduate program in JSP,” Song says. “Legal Studies majors benefit from having JSP students as their Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs), and JSP students develop their pedagogy in the context of an interdisciplinary liberal arts major focused on law. 

“Most Legal Studies programs in the U.S. do not have an interdisciplinary graduate program in law from which to recruit GSIs.”

Song teaches extensively in both JSP and Legal Studies, including the JSP Orientation Seminar, Teaching Learning in Higher Education, Citizenship and Immigration, and Theories of Justice. From 2015 to 2020, she also served as director of Berkeley Law’s Kadish Center for Morality, Law, and Public Affairs, which sponsors the Colloquium in Law, Philosophy & Political Theory with UC Berkeley’s political science and philosophy departments.

The associate dean role allows her to engage even more deeply with what she says is her favorite thing about being a professor at Berkeley Law: the people. 

“Our faculty, staff, and students are brilliant and dedicated,” Song says. “I’m so grateful to be a part of this amazing community.”