Director:  Assistant Dean Sara Faherty (sara.faherty@utoronto.ca)

The JD/MA (English) program is a three-year combined degree program offered by the Faculty of Law and the Department of English, Faculty of Arts. The program is designed for students interested in the intersection of law and literature, allowing students the opportunity to engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of the similarities and differences between these fields of study. Students interested in this program should contact the Admissions Office, Faculty of Law.

Requirements

Students complete the first year of the J.D. program (registered full-time at the Faculty of Law) and then complete two "combined" years. In the upper two years, the student shall register and shall meet all the respective degree requirements in both the J.D. Program (as a full time student) and in the School of Graduate Studies through the M.A. Program in the Department of English (as a full-time student). As a combined degree, the J.D. and M.A. (English) are awarded simultaneously. Students must, therefore, have satisfied both the J.D. and the M.A. (English) requirements before either degree may be conferred.

The structure and requirements of this program are as follows:

  1. In the first year of the program students complete all first year courses at the Faculty of Law.
  2. In the second and third years of the program students must successfully complete 3 MA (English) half courses per year for a total of 6 half-year credits. 

    Of these 6 credits, students must successfully complete:
  • Required  ENG 6999Y1F Critical Topographies: Theory and Practice of Contemporary Literary Studies in English. Students must take this course in the fall term of the second year of their program.
  • 2 FCE or 4 graduate half courses or their equivalent in the Department of English, including at least two courses from a cluster of designated "Law and Literature Program" courses identified by the Graduate Director of the Department of English, in consultation with the Combined Program Director. Designated courses could include:
    • Legal and Literary Cultures of Early Modern England (ENG 2233H1)
    • Literature and Censorship (ENG 3707H1)
    • Literature, Law, and Liberal Culture in the United States, 1776-1865 (ENG5050H1)
    • Authors and Their Institutions (ENG 6038H1)
    • Law as Literature (ENG 6553H1)
    • Race and Gender in Indigenous Law and Literature (ENG6554H1)
    • Representing Vandalism (ENG 6848H1)

In addition, students must successfully complete 45 credits at the Faculty of Law.  
 
Of these Law credits, students must successfully complete "Law and Literature" (or, if that course is not offered in a given year, a designated alternative course) and one other course approved by the Combined Program Director as a designated Combined Program course.

In addition, students must successfully complete a JD Directed Research project (at least 3 credits) or an MA English Reading Course (one half-course) on a topic related to law and literature, to be approved by the Combined Program Director. This course may count toward either a Combined Student's Law or English requirements.

Further, students must satisfy all the requirements of the JD program, including the moot, perspective course and an International/Comparative/Transnational (ICT) perspective course.

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Notes

Only Faculty of Law courses graded on the letter scale HH-H-P-LP-F and taken as Faculty of Law courses count toward the required number of credits for Honours (A) or High Distinction standing in the JD program (see Faculty of Law JD Syllabus for details on standing requirements).

Some upper year courses in the JD program have places reserved for Department of English students. JD/MA (English) combined course students have dual status. They may take these courses for credit towards either the JD degree or the MA (English) degree. 

Where a Faculty of Law course is cross-listed with the Department of English and is taken as a graduate half-course in English toward satisfying the MA (English) requirement, the course may nonetheless be used to satisfy the perspectives course or Supervised Upper Year Research Paper requirement provided that the course is so designated by the Faculty of Law.

Students may not take more than two intensive courses in the Faculty of Law per term.

Notwithstanding the course selection process in the Department of English, students must meet the Faculty of Law course selection deadline.

For the second and third years of the combined JD/MAin English, students must have their course selection reviewed by the Records Office of the Faculty of Law and approved by the Combined Program Director, prior to the course selection deadline in the Faculty of Law.

To participate in a law approved exchange program, students in the combined JD/MA (English) program must obtain approval in advance from both the Faculty of Law and the Department of English. Students must take a minimum of 14 credits while away on exchange regardless of the number of credits required. Students on exchange may only take Law courses.

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How to Apply

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