Religious Legal Studies (Dr. utr. iur.)

Program Overview

The Doctor Utriusque Iuris (Dr. utr. iur.) in Religious Legal Studies is a research doctorate that compares religious legal systems with the civil and canonical traditions of Europe. The doctor of both laws was a comparative lawyer before the term existed: a jurist trained to reconcile two systems with different sources, different authorities, and different purposes. This doctorate applies that discipline more widely, to Jewish law, Islamic law, and the other religious legal traditions that meet civil and canon law today. Doctoral students study Roman law and the civil-law tradition; the sources and method of canon law; the sources, reasoning, and institutions of Jewish and Islamic law; the historical encounters of these traditions in medieval Iberia, the Ottoman Empire, and the colonial legal orders; codification, including the Ottoman Mecelle and modern personal-status codes; and the theory of legal pluralism. Seminars compare how the traditions treat contracts and interest, marriage and divorce, and the authority of the jurist. Graduates teach comparative and religious law, advise governments and international bodies on legal pluralism, and work in research institutes and religious institutions. The dissertation makes an original comparative contribution across religious law and civil or canon law. 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 827 — Jewish and Islamic Law in Comparative Perspective (6 credits)
• IUR 839 — Codification and Legal Pluralism (6 credits)
• IUR 851 — Seminar in Comparative Religious Law (5 credits)
• IUR 860 — Doctoral Research Design in Both Laws (4 credits)
• IUR 899 — Doctoral Dissertation in Religious 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