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All law is a product of history, but not all lawyers approach law historically. UCL’s LLM in Legal History is one of the few which focuses on this way of understanding and analysing law. A diverse range of modules address law in different times and places, taking advantage of the depth of expertise provided by members of UCL Faculty of Laws interested in legal history.
The modules explore a range of different perspectives and approaches, but engagement with the primary sources of law’s history is a core aspect of the specialism. Working in this way means that students develop important research and historical skills, as well as their own understanding of the legal past.
Dr Ian Williams, Associate Professor of Law at UCL Faculty of Laws shares some further information on the LLM in Legal History for prospective students:
- What are the backgrounds or interests of students who normally select this specialism?
Very varied. The modules in the specialism cover a very wide range of fields.
Some students are interested in progressing to doctoral study. Others want a different perspective on law and their other modules. There is usually a range of jurisdictions in the modules, both common law and civilian.
Unsurprisingly students usually have a pre-existing interest in history. Sometimes that is from their earlier legal studies or a prior non-law degree, but very often it is a more general interest.- What do you think are the top three highlights of this specialism?
- Different perspectives on what might otherwise seem familiar.
- A very varied selection of modules – they are all historical, but they deal with different subject matter in different ways.
- The modules tend to be small and close-knit, allowing very focused study and some of them offer flexibility to tailor the programme somewhat to the interests of the students taking the module in a particular year.
- What do students who have studied this specialism usually go on to do?
Many move on to doctoral study. Sometimes in legal history, but also in other fields where developing alternative perspectives through the modules in the specialism is valuable to them.
- Which books, podcasts, blogs or newspapers do you recommend to students interested in taking this specialism?
- legalhistorymiscellany.com (for English legal history – short articles on narrow points
- legalhistoryblog.blogspot.com (Anglo-American focus, more modern)
- http://esilhil.blogspot.com/ (History of International Law)
For some examples of work from people at UCL who in 2020-21 are involved with the specialism, there are:
- What would you say to a student who is considering taking this specialism but hasn’t made up their mind yet?
If you have a deep interest in and commitment to legal history, UCL can offer excellent research-led teaching, across a range of periods, both as possible preparation for doctoral work or to satisfy intellectual curiosity. It’s also possible to take legal history modules as part of a general LLM or Jurisprudence and Legal Theory specialism, combining a focus on legal history with other strengths of UCL in public and private law, and legal theory.