“The dual-degree experience provides a different lens for looking at the law, and I can now see how law informs policymakers. It allows me to see beyond the abstract.” Shandanette Molnar
number of students from outside the U.S., and enhancing postgraduation opportunities, among others. Dr. Lerman reports that some of the graduate programs could begin offering certificates that encompass three- to five-course sequences in a particular specialty. “While more expansive education is the wave of the future, we still need the rigor and history of established disciplines,” he cautions. “Ultimately, more classroom time will be spent doing things, rather than talking about them in a lecture style, including capstone and experiential service-based learning,” he predicts. The university also expects to create eight to 12 cross-disciplinary institutes, hire 50 to 100 new faculty members in specific research fields, improve its infrastructure, and encourage policy research that addresses societal problems. Professor Christopher Bracey, GW Law’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, who served on the university president’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion during the strategic planning process, reports that the Law School will strive to enhance opportunities that already exist, as well as explore new ideas. “In the near term, you will begin to see the fruits of our efforts at the Law School to promote cross-disciplinary interaction,” he says. As the Law School develops its own blueprint for the future, further changes are sure to come. “It is useful that the university has an approved strategic plan that can inform the Law School going forward given that we share the same vision,” he adds.
Building on a Strong Tradition of Holistic Education In fact, while the Law School has always permitted students to enroll in courses taught by other departments on campus, the university’s new mandate is motivating a shift based on both student interest and market conditions. “What was previously just permissible is now being encouraged,” says Professor Bracey. GW Law professors have always focused on interdisciplinary scholarship, he adds. For example, Robert Tuttle teaches an undergraduate religion course, Stephen Saltzburg teaches in the University Honors Program, and Robert Cottrol has an appointment in the university’s history department. “The contribution to the world of ideas made by our faculty is often interdisciplinary in nature,” he says. Professor Bracey notes that the various formal joint-degree programs, e.g., JD/MPH, JD/MBA, JD/MA, and JD/MPA, as well as the relationship between the Law School and other schools on campus, reflect a long-standing commitment. “It is emblematic
of the cross-disciplinary approach envisioned by the provost and the plan itself,” he adds. The Law School, of course, has a rich history in this area, with its government contracts and cybersecurity programs serving as successful examples universitywide. “Cross-college collaboration is important for the Law School for the same reasons that it is important for all of the schools in the university,” says Interim Dean Maggs. “Looking at issues from more than one perspective, and with insights of experts from more than one field, tends to produce more informed and complete analyses.” Mr. Knop led the effort to endow the Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law currently occupied by Professor Steven Schooner, and cites the university’s newly launched MS degree in government contracting as a true interdisciplinary partnership between the law and business schools. He also leads a new cybersecurity initiative to unify the university’s various efforts in this area, i.e., the Law School’s LLM in national security (which may soon offer a specialization in cybersecurity). Along with maintaining existing cybersecurity-related courses, such as Law in Cyberspace, the Law School plans to develop courses that address the confluence of cybersecurity and government contracts and that incorporate aspects of the business school’s MBA in cybersecurity, the school of engineering’s MS in cybersecurity, and the school of education’s courses focused on the workforce of the future. “With all that is happening at the university, we want to be a catalyst as a neutral player to help forge public policy solutions,” Mr. Knop says. It is those solutions that will usher in a new era of influence by the Law School’s students, alumni, and faculty. As they broaden their perspectives in their individual fields, they will enhance their ability to address unanticipated problems. Given the growing complexity of modern disputes and global challenges, this diverse aptitude has the potential to solidify GW Law’s position in the legal community while providing its students and alumni with unique advantages. From government contracts to cybersecurity and from patents to international affairs, “recognizing the interdisciplinary aspects of the subject enriches your educational experience and makes you much more valuable in today’s world,” Mr. Knop says. “Graduates with an interdisciplinary education will have an easier time finding jobs.” In addition to its dynamic curriculum, the Law School jointly sponsored a panel discussion in March 2013 with the GW Cybersecurity Initiative titled “International Challenges and Opportunities: Law and Policy on Cybersecurity.” And GW Law’s new health law program provides students with a broad view of administration and public policy in light of the Affordable Care Act. “These are cross-disciplinary collaborations that accrue to the benefit of the students first and foremost,” says Professor Bracey. “The artificial barriers that have been erected between disciplines are breaking down because students want a deeper understanding of the
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