Interdisciplinary Learning
SLS takes interdisciplinary education to new levels.
Consider our heritage: Stanford University is known as a hub of learning and innovation across traditional academic boundaries. Factor in our intellectual neighborhood — among the world’s top enterprises in business, medicine, engineering and numerous other fields. Then count our joint degrees: 24 in 2022, and the number continues to grow as law students invent new combinations that enable them to achieve unique ambitions.
Thinking, collaborating and pioneering across disciplines are part of the SLS culture. The spirit of learning beyond boundaries informs our classrooms, clinics, policy practicums and academic centers. It inspires our conversations. And it can shape your future.
Joint degree opportunities
Known for its entrepreneurial character, its location in the dynamic and diverse San Francisco Bay Area, and its connections to Silicon Valley, Stanford University is one of the world’s leading institutions of research and learning, with top-ranked schools and departments and interdisciplinary programs and centers.
At Stanford Law, most JD/Master’s degrees can be completed in three years. Most JD/PhDs can be completed in two years less time and for two-thirds less cost than is required at other institutions.
Joint degree students benefit from the wisdom of two faculties and the guidance of two faculty mentors — one from the law school and one from their discipline of choice.
I am thrilled to work with my colleagues to equip students with technical legal and human rights skills as well as the necessary interdisciplinary lens and reflective capacity to effectively bring about and sustain change. Working with students has been one of the most rewarding and joyful aspects of my advocacy and teaching.
Gulika Reddy
Assistant Professor
Director, International Human Rights Clinic
Unique access to broad knowledge
Unmatched intellectual breadth, a walkable campus and a temperate climate make Stanford the ideal incubator for interdisciplinary innovation
7
minutes required to walk between SLS and most other schools and departments
12
months of the year when good weather makes getting around campus easy
To make a difference through law, you must know more than law.
Thinking across disciplines and incorporating diverse perspectives in the search for solutions isn’t taught in the traditional law school classroom. But those abilities are essential to the work of 21st-century lawyers, whatever career they choose. At Stanford Law, even students who do not pursue a formal joint degree can benefit from Stanford University’s interdisciplinary strengths and learn to collaborate in the process. SLS offers a wide variety of team-oriented, problem-solving courses, many co-taught by law school faculty and faculty from Stanford’s other highly rated schools and departments. These classes give law students the opportunity to learn with and from Stanford students from a wide variety of disciplines.
Learn teamwork while studying across disciplines
The joint degree opportunity was the reason I chose Stanford. Now, I use my interdisciplinary training every day in assessing potential litigation for the Sierra Club, where our goal is to protect the environment, not just win cases. My science and policy background helps me evaluate whether new litigation will really achieve our environmental goals.
Ellen Medlin, JD/MS ’10, Stanford Lawyer, Issue 86