<p>is it common practice for professors who teach law-related courses only to have their JD and not a phD? </p>
<p>i would like to become a professor (though not at a top school) and teach multi-disciplinary courses…in the social sciences…</p>
<p>i have an interest in law, history and sociology…</p>
<p>One can teach with only a JD at a law school.</p>
<p>However, at a university, look at the departments in which these professors teach. If they are full-time tenure track professors, then they must necessarily have a PhD in their field, be it history or sociology. (Departments of Law do not normally exist at undergraduate institutions in the US.)</p>
<p>One additional note: One does not become a professor to teach, but rather in order to do research in one’s discipline. Also, departments hire experts in research within a discipline. One cannot get an interdisciplinary PhD and expect an easy road toward employment.</p>
<p>professor X, while i know you know much more about all these, i am wondering do you not consider colleges that are either focused on teaching (liberal arts college, small teaching uni, and even big universities have many lecturing profs)??</p>
<p>noface…you are right…i am not interested in research but want to focus on teaching…</p>
<p>Then a high school teaching certificate would be your best option.</p>
<p>There are plenty of well-respected teaching universities.</p>
<p>A Ph.D is a research degree. To earn one in most fields, you have to complete an original reserach project called a dissertation, which normally takes three to five years. </p>
<p>Browse through the biographies/CV’s of faculty at LACs, and you will see that they too publish scholarly articles and monographs. Although the empahsis of research may be lower at an LAC than at a university, you better be able to professionaly convey your work if you want a chance to land a position at any respectable school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have one, but thank you for the explanation.</p>
<p>However, there are many faculty members, with PhD’s from top universities that go to teaching colleges (tenure based on teaching scores with a minor publication component - usually just based on quantity) instead of research colleges (tenure based on research publications - usually forward citation count and journal quality). For some it’s a personal preference, for others, it’s forced by the lack of tenure-track positions at research universities relative to the number of graduates.</p>
<p>i know that with a masters i can teach community college, but would a dual jd + masters program permit me to teach at some of these small private liberal arts colleges (not talking about your better known ones)</p>
<p>What do you want to teach? I know some JD’s that teach ethics and business law at non-law schools, but it’s not the most common thing in the world. You’d be better off with a PhD if that was your goal.</p>
<p>You’re not likely to get a tenure-track teaching job with an MA and a JD unless you have some connections to a school that get you in the door. Those qualifications will perhaps open the door, however, in getting you a non-tenure track (long-term) position teaching at a lower-tier school.</p>
<p>i guess when one becomes a professor one is expected to teach those introductory courses but i’d also like to eventually come up with courses of my own (multi-disciplinary courses involving the social sciences/humanities) </p>
<p>i guess my problem is that i want a JD but i also want to be able to teach while having time to be involved in solving problems between mexico and the usa…professors usually teach 9 months and then the rest of the time they’re allowed to do a mix of personal/professional work right? </p>
<p>my undergrad record isnt all that great and am hoping to at least graduate with a 3.0 (hopefully) i know that grad schools in texas will consider the gpa for my last 60 credits if my gpa for 120credits is low so i do have a chance at getting into a graduate program i think. </p>
<p>so should i just skip masters altogether and go for a dual phD/JD? i havent really looked into this but i’m sure some schools in texas offer this…</p>
<p>3.0 is a little low for grad schools. dual PhD/JD programs aren’t unheard of, but they’re certainly not offered at every school, and so they tend to be a little more competitive than just straight PhD or JD programs.</p>
<p>i’m under the impression (feel free to correct me if i’m wrong) that JD programs look more at your LSAT scores than your GPA, so if you do the JD first and do well in that program, it may nullify your low undergrad GPA when you go to apply for grad schools.</p>
<p>i think, sadly, that the dual PhD/JD programs may be out of your reach since many schools use 3.4 or 3.5 as a cutoff for consideration, but again i could be wrong.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>i know this…which is why i’m mostly looking at non-ranked state universities…</p>
<p>well, if they offer dual PhD/JD degrees, then go for it. the masters alone may not be enough to teach at most places of higher education.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you can get hired with teaching experience, usually they’ll let you skip intro classes, or just teach for one semester, then you’ll get to teach upper level courses and electives (that you develop). </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why do you want a JD, then? </p>
<p>Teaching depends on your school and your preference. If you go to a teaching college, you’ll teach 5-6 courses, at a research school you’ll teach 2-3 courses. You can put all of those in the same semester and only teach 3 months a year (obviously, this is easier to do at a research school), or spread them out and teach 9 or 12 months a year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You don’t need a master’s. But again, why a dual program? If you’re interested in law but don’t want to become a practicing lawyer, you could always just take classes at the law school as a PhD student.</p>