Spring 2027 Legal Studies Courses
Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary major in which you take courses from a variety of departments. Please refer to the list below for the most accurate list of courses offered that fulfill major requirements. If a course is listed below and it does not appear on your dars report, please email cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu.
Legal Studies Courses During Other Semesters
You need at least 12 separate courses to complete the legal studies major. Although a course may appear below in multiple sections, it can only count towards ONE theme OR a core perspective course.
Intro/Gateway Courses | Statistics | Research Design | Theme 1 | Theme 2 |
Theme 3 | Theme 4 | Theme 5 | Core Perspectives
Legal St/Soc 131: Criminal Justice in America
Statistics
Econ 310: Measurement in Economics
Ed Pol 209: Introduction to Quantitative Methods
General Business 306: Business Analytics
LIS 440: Navigating the Data Revolution: Concepts of Data & Information Science
Psychology 210: Basic Stats for Psychology
Sociology 360: Statistics for Sociologists
Statistics 301: Introduction to Statistics
Statistics 371: Intro Applied Stats – Life Sciences
Research Design
Ed Pol 308: Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods in Education
Psychology 225: Research Methods
Public Affairs 240: Evidence-Based Policy Making
Public Affairs 380: Analytical Tools for Public Policy
Social Work 650: Methods of Social Work Research
Sociology 357: Methods of Sociological Inquiry
Theme Group 1: Legal Institutions
**Amer Ind/LS 450: Federal Indian Law (Ethnic St) (Honors only)
General Business 301: Business Law
Legal St./Hist 262: Amer Legal History 1860s to Pres
*Legal St/PS 352: Transitional Justice in World Politics
*Legal St 400: Topic: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective
*Legal St 400: Topic: Sociology of International Law
Legal St 400: Topic: National Security Law
Legal St 400: Topic: Crim Just, Families and Social Work
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
Legal St. 444: Law in Action
Legal St/ELPA/Ed Pol 542: Law and Public Education
Political Science 304: The Political Economy of Race in the US
*Political Science 356: Principles of International Law
*Political Science 400: Topic: Intl Humanitarian law Mid Eas (dars exception needed)
Political Science 408: The American Presidency
Political Science 412: The American Constitution: Rights and Civil Liberties
Political Science 414: The Supreme Court as a Political Institution
Political Science 470: The First Amendment
**Pub Affr 520: Inequality, Race and Public Policy (ethnic studies)
Theme Group 2: Process of Legal Order & Disorder
Legal St 460: Surveillance, Privacy and Police Powers
Legal St. 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
(Only available to students currently enrolled in pre-internship canvas site. If you have an internship for Spring 2027 and you are not enrolled in pre-internship canvas site, please email cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu)
History 344: The Age of the American Revolution
Psych 526: The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives
Psych 601: Psych of Juvenile Delinquency
Psych 626: Prisoner Re-Entry
Sociology 441: Criminology
Theme Group 3: Law & Social Forces
**AfAm 272: Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right (Ethnic St.)
**AfAm/History 321: Afro-American History Since 1900 (Ethnic St.)
Amer Ind/Social Work 636: Indian Child Welfare Act)
Ed Pol/ Intl. St. 220: Human Rights and Education
Ed Pol 478: Comparative History of Childhood and Adolescence (dars exception needed)
Envir St 349: Climate Change Governance
Envir St 439: US Environmental Policy and Regulation
*GWS/Intl St 535: Women’s Global Health and Human Rights (biological sci)
**History/Ed Pol 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America (Ethnic St.) (Comm b)
History 600: Law & Religion – Middle Ages (dars exception needed)
*LACIS 440: Spanish: Immigration Law Clinic
Legal St. 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
*Legal St 400: Topic: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective
*Legal St 400: Topic: Sociology of International Law
Legal St 400: Topic: National Security Law
Legal St 400: Topic: Crim Just, Families and Social Work
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
Legal St. 422: Women and the Law
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
**Legal St./AfroAmer 434: Criminal Injustice in America (ethnic st)
**Legal St./Soc/ChicLa 443: Immigration, Crime & Enforcement (ethnic st)
Legal St./LIS 645: Intellectual Freedom
Psych 601: Legal Psych: Crim & Civil Issues
Sociology 220: Ethnic Movements in the US (Comm B and ethnic st)
Social Work 453: Substance Use Disorders (dars exception needed)
Social Work 675: Reproductive Justice
*Spanish/ChicLa 215: Border & Migration Studies of Latinx America
Theme Group 4: Law, Literature & Culture
English 177: Narco-Narratives (Lit)
English 182: Doing Time: Race, Labor, Incarceration (Lit) (Honors)
*History 201: Shanghai Life and Crime (Comm B)
*Legal St. 477: History of Forensic Science
*Legal St. 510: Legal Pluralism
Relig St 328: Classical Rabbinic Literature in Translation (dars exception needed)
History 600: Law & Authority (dars exception needed)
Journalism 563: Law of Mass Communication
Legal St. 213: Intro to Law & Humanities
*Legal St./History 426: History of Punishment
LIS 201: The Information Society (Comm B) (dars exception needed)
Med Hist 558: Ethical Issues in Health Care
Philosophy 341: Contemporary Moral Issues (Comm B)
Philosophy 565: The Ethics of Modern Biotechnology
Legal St. 262: Amer Legal History 1860s to Present
*Legal St 400: Topic: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective
*Legal St 400: Topic: Sociology of International Law
Legal St 400: Topic: National Security Law
Legal St 400: Topic: Crim Just, Families and Social Work
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
*Legal St./History 426: History of Punishment
**Legal St./AfroAmer 434: Criminal Injustice in America
**Legal St./Soc/ChicLa 443: Immigration, Crime & Enforcement (ethnic studies)
Legal St 460: Surveillance, Privacy and Police Powers
*Legal St. 477: History of Forensic Science
*Legal St. 510: Legal Pluralism
*Meets requirement that at least two courses in the major must have substantial content dealing with countries or cultures outside the United States or with the international legal system. For this requirement, a course can count for a theme and the global requirement.
**Meets Race/Justice requirement (for students who declared Fall 2023 and later). A course can count for a theme and the race/justice requirement.