Summer 2025 Legal Studies Courses
Legal Studies is an interdisciplinary major in which you take courses from a variety of departments. Because of this, not all courses are listed on the “select from section” of your dars report.
Please refer to the list below for the most accurate list of courses offered that fulfill certificate requirements. If a course indicates a dars exception is needed, it means that the course will not automatically show up on your dars report if enrolled. If you enroll in a course that needs a dars exception, please email cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu
Gateway Courses
Legal St/Soc 131: Criminal Justice in America
Legal St/Poli Sci 217: Law, Politics, and Society
Statistics (one course from this listing)
Economics 310: Statistics: Measurement in Economics
Ed Pol 209: Quantitative Methods for Education (dars exception needed)
General Business 306: Business Analytics
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 (one course from this listing)
Political Science 170: Research Methods
Psychology 225: Research Methods
Social Work 650: Methods of Social Work Research (dars exception needed)
Sociology 357: Methods of Sociological Inquiry
Theme Group 1: Legal Institutions
General Business 301: Business Law
Legal St/ELPA/Ed Pol 442: Civil Rights Laws, the Courts and Public Education (dars exception needed)
Legal Studies 444: Law in Action
Poli Sci 311: United States Congress
*Political Science 434: Politics of Human Rights
Theme Group 2: Process of Legal Order & Disorder
Comm Arts 371: Communication and Conflict Resolution
Legal Studies 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies (application and internship required)
Sociology 441: Criminology
Theme Group 3: Law & Social Forces
Econ 522: Law and Economics
Ed Pol 220/ Intl. St. 220: Human Rights and Education (dars exception needed)
**GWS/Intl St 535: Women’s Global Health and Human Rights
Legal St/GWS 422: Women and the Law
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
Legal St. 473: Health Impacts of Unmet Social Needs (application required)
Political Science 314: Criminal Law and Justice
Theme Group 4: Law & Culture
*History 201: Shanghai Life and Crime
*Legal Studies/Engl 160: Truth and Crime (dars exception needed) – counts for Li
Theme Group 5: Law & Theory
Journalism 563: Law of Mass Communication
*Legal St./Hist 235: Prisons: From Antiquity to Supermax (dars exception needed)
*Legal Studies/History 426: History of Punishment
LIS 461: Data and Algorithms: Ethics and Policy (dars exception needed)
Philosophy 341: Contemporary Moral Issues
Core Perspectives
*Legal St./Hist 235: Prisons: From Antiquity to Supermax (dars exception needed)
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
*Legal Studies/History 426: History of Punishment
*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.
Fall 2024 Legal Studies Courses
Gateway Courses
Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America
Legal Studies/Political Science 217: Law, Politics and Society
Statistics
Economics 310: Statistics: Measurement in Economics
Ed Pol 209: Introduction to Quantitative Methods (dars exception needed)
General Business 306: Business Analytics
LIS 440: Navigating the Data Revolution: Concepts of Data & Information Science (dars exception needed)
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: Intro to Qualitative Research (dars exception needed)
Political Science 373: Introduction to Survey Research
Psychology 225: Experimental Psychology
Public Affairs 240: Evidence-Based Policy Making
Public Affairs 380: Analytical Tools for Public Policy
Sociology 357: Methods of Sociological Inquiry
Theme Group 1: Legal Institutions
General Business 301: Business Law
Legal Studies/Hist 261: American Legal History to 1860
Political Science 401: Crime and Politics (dars exception needed)
*Poli Sci 401: Transitional Justice (dars exception needed)
*Legal Studies 400: Punishment and Society
Legal Studies 444: Law in Action
Legal Studies/ELPA 542: Law and Public Education
Legal Studies 641: Sociology of Law
**Political Science 304: The Political Economy of Race in the US
*Political Science 347: Terrorism
*Political Science 349: Global Access to Justice
*Political Science 354: International Institutions and World Order
Political Science 405: State Government and Public Policy
Political Science 419: Administrative Law
Theme Group 2: Process of Legal Order & Disorder
Legal Studies 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies (application and internship required-see more at: https://criminaljustice.wisc.edu/academics/criminal-justice-certificate-program/)
Psych 526: The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives
Psychology 601: Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)
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 326: Race and Gender in Post-World War II U.S. Society (ethnic st)
**AfAm 621: Slavery and Capitalism in the United States (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
**AfAm 671: Origins of Black Movements (ethnic st)
**AfAm 671: Topic: Criminalizing Blackness (ethnic st)
**AmerInd 450: Sovereignty and the Schoolhouse (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
Ed Pol 220: Human Rights and Education (dars exception needed)
Econ 522: Law and Economics
Envir St 402: Water Governance, Policy and Conflict (dars exception needed)
*Gender and Women’s Studies: 435: Politics of Gender and Women’s Rights in the Middle East
Envir St 439: US Environmental Policy and Regulation
**History 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America
*History 201: Global History of Unfree Labor
History 600: Gen, War Crimes, and Human Rights in 20th century (dars exception needed)
*International Studies 401: Revolution and Insurgency
*International St 535: Women’s Global Health and Human Rights (dars exception needed)
*International Studies 601: Refugees in Global Context (dars exception needed)
Legal Studies 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
*Legal Studies 203: Jewish Law, Business and Ethics
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
**Legal Studies 400/Soc 496: Race, Family and the State
**Legal Studies 400: Criminal Injustice in America
Legal Studies/Soc 496: Pornography and Censorship (Requires application)
*Legal Studies/Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
**Legal Studies/ChicLa/Sociology 440: Ethnicity, Race and Justice (ethnic st)
Legal Studies 663: CyberLaw
Psych 401: Psychology, Law and Social Policies
**Sociology 220: Ethnic Movements in the U.S (Comm B and ethnic st)
Theme Group 4: Law & Culture
Anthropology 350: Political Anthropology
*Legal Studies/English 160: Truth and Crime (Lit)
Legal Studies 400: Tribal Court of Appeals Project
English 174: Protest Literature (dars exception needed)
*English 177: Narco-Narratives (Lit) (dars exception needed)
English 457: Cultures of AIDs Activism (dars exception needed)
Religious Studies 200: Religion and the First Amendment
Theme Group 5: Law & Theory
Journalism 563: Law of Mass Communication
*Legal Studies/History 426: History of Punishment
Philosophy 341: Contemporary Moral Issues (some sections are Comm B)
Core Perspectives
Legal Studies/History 261: American Legal History to 1860
**Legal Studies 400: Criminal Injustice in America
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
*Legal Studies/History 426: History of Punishment
*Legal Studies/Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
**Legal Studies/ChicLa/Sociology 440: Ethnicity, Race and Justice (ethnic st)
*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 both for purposes of meeting the Distribution requirement above and the Global Legal Systems 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.