Modality
On Campus
Program URL
https://cges.georgetown.edu/academics/mages/degree-options/mages-jd/
At the conclusion of the two-year Master of Arts in European Studies (MAES) program, students will have acquired broad knowledge of European affairs, drawing on a range of disciplinary perspectives and their methodologies. They will have an appreciation and mastery of interdisciplinary analysis of European affairs, which entails among other things a capacity to interpret and apply theory within and across disciplines and to draw conclusions among discrete elements of a problem.
MAES graduates will have the ability to integrate academic and practical knowledge, and to demonstrate expertise in a self-designed area of European affairs. Students will acquire valuable skills in oral communication, critical writing, and original (including collaborative) research, and improve their mastery of two European languages. Taken together, their newly acquired proficiencies enable them to be informed participants in the transatlantic dialogue.
The Law Center, the Graduate School, and the Walsh School of Foreign Service offer a four-year dual degree program of international studies leading to the MAES degree and Juris Doctor (J.D.). This professionally oriented course of study is designed to integrate advanced work in area studies with a professional legal education.
Academic Policies
Students in the European Studies and the Law joint program are expected to comply with the polices outlined in the Graduate Bulletin and Law Center handbook.
Program Requirements
Students undertake a four-year course of study comprising a minimum of 110 credit hours: 74 hours of Law Center courses and 36 hours of MAES work. Students would typically begin the dual degree program at the Law School, spend their second year in the MAES program, and take coursework in both programs during the third and fourth years of the program and awarded upon satisfactory completion of the program. Students matriculating in Fall 2021 or later undertake a four-year course of study comprising a minimum of 109 academic credits (76 credits of Law Center courses and 33 credits of M.A.E.S. work, with 9 credits of J.D. coursework counted toward the M.A.E.S. degree and 9 credits of M.A.E.S. coursework counted toward the J.D.). Candidates for this joint degree must meet the graduation requirements and satisfy the academic standards of both programs , including demonstrating relevant foreign language ability through successful completion of the M.A.E.S. written and oral language examinations, and successfully completing the oral examination of the M.A.E.S. Program
European Studies
Students must complete 42 credits of coursework, including the six core courses (18 credits) and 24 credits of free electives with a minimum grade point average of 3.000. Additionally, students are required to demonstrate oral proficiency in one European language other than English, pass an oral comprehensive exam, and complete a Capstone project to be presented at the MAES Colloquium.
Law
In order to earn a J.D. degree, students must successfully complete the following academic requirements:
- 85 credits, including the upper-class legal writing requirement, a course in Professional Responsibility, a minimum of 6 credits in experiential courses, and a course that teaches students to think critically about the law’s claim to neutrality and the law’s differential effects on subordinated groups.
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of at least a C (2.00/4.33) in Law Center courses.
Required Examinations
European Studies
Students are required to pass an oral language proficiency exam in one European language, as well as an oral comprehensive exam at the conclusion of the program.
Thesis Requirements
European Studies
While students do not write a traditional thesis, they are required to complete a research project during the Capstone course taken at the end of the program.
