I'm not totally sure what you mean by "humanities," but I'll try to share what information I think might be relevant. Most students at YLS, like at most law schools, I suspect, are humanities majors. Certain backgrounds, like political science, econ, and philosophy (all humanities, I would think) are more relevant for the law than others. That being said, the law is an entirely different field unto itself. Any background people have is not that relevant, and I'd say from a course material standpoint, everyone starts out on a roughly even playing field.thewaves wrote:This may be an odd question to try to answer, but how do humanities students enter into the "academic conversation" at YLS? I know Yale has a law and humanities journal, but it seems of more a side interest or focus (even an editor of the journal told me the field of law and literature is dead and kind of a joke). Just from your personal/anecdotal experience, how have your humanities friends developed interests beyond what they previously knew before entering YLS? I know no one has black and white academic/professional interests, but I have heard most people come to YLS with a certain expertise in a subject, some in more relevant legal areas (like Economics or Government).
I would say most people, humanities majors or not, tend to find an interest in a field of law that they encounter in law school, such as constitutional, antitrust, international, immigration, clinical work, etc. Most people retain interests outside of the law as well; for English majors, maybe this includes like literature and poetry. But those interests are largely irrelevant to the law. Students often start or join self-directed reading groups for credit. You can plan your own curriculum. I'm not sure, but I think there are a few "law and literature" type reading groups.