Christian Legal Studies (Dr. utr. iur.)

Program Overview

The Doctor Utriusque Iuris (Dr. utr. iur.) in Christian Legal Studies is a research doctorate in Christian jurisprudence, studied through the two legal traditions that Christians built. Medieval Christian jurists created the canon law of the church and revived the Roman civil law, and between them they produced the ideas of legal system, equity, natural rights, due process, and representation that still structure Western law. This doctorate studies that achievement and its continuing claim on legal thought. Doctoral students study Roman law and its revival at Bologna; the sources and method of canon law; the canonists' contribution to natural rights, corporate personality, and procedure; natural law from Aquinas through the second scholastics, Grotius, and the Protestant natural lawyers; the Reformation's transformation of law; and the Christian sources of modern human rights and constitutionalism. Seminars test large historical claims — such as Harold Berman's thesis that the Western legal tradition began with the Papal Revolution — against the primary sources. Graduates teach and research in law, theology, and history, lead institutes of Christian legal thought, and contribute to legal scholarship and public debate. The dissertation makes an original contribution to Christian legal studies across the canonical and civil traditions. The Dr. utr. iur. is a research doctorate; it is not a professional qualification for admission to the bar or for the practice of law in any jurisdiction.

Core Courses

• IUR 801 — Roman Law and the Civil-Law Tradition (6 credits)
• IUR 812 — Canon Law: Sources, Codes, and Method (6 credits)
• IUR 828 — The Canonists and the Western Legal Tradition (6 credits)
• IUR 840 — Natural Law from Aquinas to Grotius (6 credits)
• IUR 852 — Seminar in Christian Jurisprudence (5 credits)
• IUR 860 — Doctoral Research Design in Both Laws (4 credits)
• IUR 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in Christian Legal Studies (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree, licentiate, or professional degree in law, canon law, theology, or a related field
• Reading knowledge of Latin, or willingness to develop it during the first year of study
• Research proposal identifying a question in civil law, canon law, or both
• Scholarly writing sample
• Current curriculum vitae
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Signed acknowledgment that the degree is a research doctorate and not a qualification for bar admission