Law affects us all profoundly, yet most of us understand little about our legal system. The Legal Studies Program at Earlham is intended to remedy this deficiency. It is our aim to study law as a liberal art. The Program considers legal education to be a special case of political, social, economic, cultural and moral education. To study law is to study rights and duties, the processes of making change, and the many ways by which all of us are affected by "the rules of the game."
Our purpose in teaching Legal Studies has at least two layers. Our more modest purpose is to teach law so that our students can pick up a newspaper and understand the issues involved in a current legal controversy, such as term limitations, hate speech, gun control, airline deregulation or product liability. Our more ambitious purpose is to teach existing legal rules and doctrines, with their underlying policy arguments, so that our students can think about these arguments, prepare to join in the conversation and let their own voices be heard. We want to dispel the ignorance and confusion about law that make too many people feel helpless in public and private affairs and that can lead them to lives of civic inconspicuousness — in effect letting other people take the lead. We want to prepare our students for lives of critical reflection, engagement with questions of public policy and conscientious action, whether as citizens or as members of the legal profession. Law in this sense is a central liberal art.
The Legal Studies Program is not just for those who plan to go to law school. However, it will give students an informed and realistic sense of what law is, so that they can make intelligent decisions about a career in the law. We do not teach legal rules so that our students can pass a bar exam or advise clients. We study the history, politics and ethics of law, and ask continually what the law ought to be. Hence, while Legal Studies does produce lawyers, it also produces well-rounded, broadly educated, ethically sensitive citizens who are prepared for a complex and changing world.
According to HEDS, Earlham is ranked 149th (in the 89th percentile) among 1,469 institutions of higher learning in the U.S. in the percentage of graduates who go on to receive Ph.D.s in law.
