The Baldy Center serves as a focal point for the interdisciplinary research and training in law and related graduate disciplines. It encourages and coordinates the collaborative JD and PhD degrees programs and provides numerous opportunities for student involvement in center activities. Students are invited to participate in faculty seminars and work-in-progress presentations and in other activities specifically tailored to the needs of graduate students, such as dissertation workshops.

The Center also coordinates various types of financial support for graduate students such as the nominations for Gilbert Moore fellowships and research assistantships to work with faculty members on interdisciplinary scholarly projects.

Finally, the Center sponsors special interdisciplinary seminars and discussion groups, as well as maintains lists of interdisciplinary courses on law and legal institutions taught throughout the university.

Courses and Seminars

Graduate Courses in Sociolegal Studies
Numerous UB faculty members offer graduate-level courses and seminars related to the interdisciplinary study of law and legal institutions.

The Baldy Center attempts to maintain lists of relevant courses offered periodically by its affiliated faculty members. Follow these links to the Graduate and Law Courses and Seminars on Interdisciplinary Legal Topics:

• Spring 2009
• Fall 2008
• Spring 2008
• Fall 2007
• Spring 2007

The lists are intended to provide a guide to the range of possibilities available to graduate students interested in sociolegal studies at UB. It is not an official catalogue of courses to be offered in a given semester or academic year. Such courses are listed in university and departmental publications.

Law School Courses
UB Law School has, for many years, integrated interdisciplinary perspectives into its courses, seminars, and activities. In 1995 the Law School adopted its New Curriculum, a distinctive and innovative approach to legal education that encourages students to become proficient in multiple methods and theories at the same time that they practice the skills lawyers need to succeed in the practice settings of the twenty-first century.

Gilbert Moore Fellowships

The Gilbert Moore Fellowships is a Baldy Pre-Dissertation and Dissertation fellowship for JD & PhD Students

The Baldy Center screens and nominates recipients of the prestigious Gilbert Moore Fellowship, available to outstanding students pursuing a JD and PhD degree simultaneously. A total of four JD and PhD candidates are supported in a given year by this fellowship, which provides a stipend of $20,000 and a tuition scholarship. Depending on available funding, additional students may be awarded a one-year Baldy Pre-Dissertation Fellowship, which provides the same benefits as the Moore. The Moore fellowship may be renewed for up to a total of four years, with the Baldy Center taking over support in the fifth year of study by providing a Baldy Dissertation Fellowship. The Baldy Dissertation Fellowship provides the same level of support as the Moore Fellowship, i.e. $20,000 per year and a tuition scholarship. Only recipients of the Moore or Baldy Pre-Dissertation Fellowship are eligible to apply for the Baldy Dissertation Fellowship.

Students can request application materials from the Baldy Center or download them here; but applicants will not be considered until they have been accepted for law and graduate study by the admissions officers in their JD and PhD programs. After acceptance for law and graduate study has been confirmed, the Baldy Center will select nominees for the Gilbert Moore Fellowship and will then forward their names to a selection committee of the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The next deadline for Moore Fellowships and Baldy Pre-Dissertation and Dissertation Fellowships is February 16, 2009.

Research Assistantships

Many UB faculty members hire law or graduate students on an hourly basis to assist them in their research. Such work can be highly educational and rewarding for the students and on occasion may lead to co-authored publications. The Baldy Center directs students to research opportunities. The center also hires students to work as editorial assistants on its interdisciplinary scholarly journal, Law & Policy.