<p>I am a rising sophomore developing a strong interest in studying law through the lens of humanities, and especially intellectual history of legal thought. I took an American legal history course this year, along with a couple courses in political thought, and I was fascinated by the way, for instance, ideas about commercial contracts and social contract theory evolved together over time, and by the growing tendency to view law as technical rather than based on morality or reason. Increasingly, I am grappling with big questions like what law actually is, what it is for, and what it means to interpret it. I am especially interested in the different ways these questions have been answered over time.
Anyway, I am considering law school, though I'm definitely not certain about it, grad school being another strong candidate. If I do go to law school, it would be because, aside from the the legal history/philosophy thing, legal reasoning itself also appeals to me (which it does), and because I can see myself practicing law for the rest of my life (that one I'm still working out).
So here's the question: I know that "legal studies"-type majors are frowned upon (and in fact my school doesn't offer any), but, assuming I do a apply to law school, and assuming I have a traditional-ish major like, say, history, will it hurt me to have taken a lot of courses with the word "law" in the title? Over four years, it could easily be as many as 6 or 7 (out of 36) if I don't restrain myself. I'm not taking these courses because I think they'll prepare me for law school--actually quite the opposite, since, as far as I can tell, law school really isn't intended to address these issues at all. I'm taking them because I want to be able to study what interests me most in undergrad. In case it matters at this point, I go to a big-name school, have a medium-highish GPA, and have a history of doing well on standardized tests.
Anyway, advice would be appreciated. (And if you have any thoughts on what I should be doing with my life, I wouldn't mind that either!)</p>
<p>If you are talking about taking courses in poli sci and history which have to do with legal analysis, that's fine.</p>