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J.D./Ph.D. Program Description

The Arizona State University Law and Psychology Graduate Program adopts a policy orientation with the goal of training students to hold professional positions in academia, think tanks, the government, and public interest-oriented non-governmental organizations. The Program provides students with traditional and cutting-edge knowledge and skills in the interdisciplinary field of law and psychology through a teaching and research consortium of faculty in the College of Law and the Department of Psychology. Students study in substantial depth and breadth the law, one traditional area of psychology (social, clinical, or developmental), and the intersection of the two fields. Moreover, they do so in a condensed timeframe. Whereas the Ph.D. normally takes at least six years and the J.D. takes three years to complete, the Program is designed such that students may be expected to receive both degrees in approximately seven years, depending on their chosen pace and interests.

Students enrolled in the Law and Psychology Graduate Program complete select portions of the traditional law curriculum and the traditional psychology graduate curriculum, and training at the intersection of law and psychology. To be considered to have completed the Program and eligible to receive both the J.D. and the Ph.D., students must satisfy the following minimum curriculum requirements:

J.D. requirements (60 credits)

Ph.D. requirements (60 credits)

Joint requirements (30 credits). The joint requirements are as follows:

  • Law and Psychology: Theory and Methodology seminar
  • Selected Topics in Law and Psychology seminar
  • Psycholegal Research (minimum of 6 credits)
  • Externship (minimum of 3 credits)
  • One semester of teaching
  • Coursework at the intersection of law, psychology, and public policy (minimum of 12 credits, to be pre-approved by the Program Director)

Students enrolled in the Law and Psychology Graduate Program take courses from and conduct research with a variety of law professors and psychology professors. The precise professors with whom a student interacts and is mentored depends in large part on the student’s course selection and research interests. Information on the law school and each area of psychology is available at the following urls:

College of Law : http://www.law.asu.edu/

Clinical, Social, and Developmental psychology: http://psychology.clas.asu.edu/graduate