By Gwyneth K. Shaw<\/p>\n
When Professor Sarah Song<\/a> joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 2007, the school\u2019s Jurisprudence and Social Policy<\/a> (JSP) Program was a major draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen 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,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teaching in JSP \u2014 and enjoying the cross-cutting nature of the program and her faculty colleagues \u2014 is an ideal fit.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes JSP special is our shared commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship on law and its real-world impact,\u201d she says. \u201cJSP 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n She\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am excited to do whatever I can to support JSP\u2019s mission of producing outstanding interdisciplinary legal scholars and teachers,\u201d Song says. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n A unique blend<\/p>\n JSP grew out of the demise of UC Berkeley\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n These days \u2014 with a Ph.D. increasingly essential to unlocking jobs in legal academia \u2014 the program offers a unique opportunity to study with such a range of experts. JSP has become Berkeley Law\u2019s pipeline into academia<\/a>, placing graduates in law schools, disciplinary departments, and interdisciplinary programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several of Song\u2019s Berkeley Law colleagues are JSP alums, including Professors Jonathan Simon<\/a> J.D. \u201987 Ph.D. \u201990, Catherine Albiston<\/a> J.D. \u201993 Ph.D. \u201901, Adam Badawi<\/a> J.D.\u201903 Ph.D. \u201904, Joy Milligan<\/a> Ph.D. \u201918, Asad Rahim<\/a> Ph.D. \u201919, and Diana S. Reddy<\/a> Ph.D. \u201923.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Legal Studies Program is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts major that engages the meanings, values, practices, and institutions of law and legality. It\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat 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,\u201d Song says. \u201cLegal 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMost Legal Studies programs in the U.S. do not have an interdisciplinary graduate program in law from which to recruit GSIs.\u201d<\/p>\n Song teaches extensively in both JSP and Legal Studies, including the JSP Orientation Seminar<\/a>, Teaching Learning in Higher Education<\/a>, Citizenship and Immigration, and Theories of Justice. From 2015 to 2020, she also served as director of Berkeley Law\u2019s Kadish Center for Morality, Law, and Public Affairs<\/a>, which sponsors the Colloquium in Law, Philosophy & Political Theory<\/a> with UC Berkeley\u2019s political science and philosophy departments.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur faculty, staff, and students are brilliant and dedicated,\u201d Song says. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful to be a part of this amazing community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Gwyneth K. 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