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 11 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.
Gateway Courses
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: Intro to Qualitative Research
Political Science 170: Research Methods in Political Science
Political Science 373: Introduction to Survey Research
Psychology 225: Research Methods
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 St./Hist 261: American Legal History to 1860
**Legal St. 400: Incarceration and Inequality
*Legal St. 400: Law and Climate Justice
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
*Legal St. 400/Soc 496: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective (dars exception needed)
Legal St. 444: Law in Action
Legal St./ELPA 542: Law and Public Education
Legal St. 641: Sociology of Law
**Political Science 304: The Political Economy of Race in the US
Political Science 311: United States Congress
*Political Science 347: Terrorism
*Poli Sci/Legal St. 352: Transition Justice in World Politics (dars exception needed)
*Political Science 356: International Law
Political Science 401: Crime and Politics
Political Science 405: State Government and Public Policy
Political Science 417: American Judicial System
Theme Group 2: Process of Legal Order & Disorder
Legal St/LIS 460: Surveillance, Privacy, and Police Powers
Legal Studies 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies (In order to get permission to enroll, students must participate in a pre-internship process. The Fall 2025 process began on March 14th. Please email cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu to be added to the process.)
Political Science 314: Criminal Law & Justice
Psych 526: The Criminal Mind: Forensic and Psychobiological Perspectives
Psychology 626: Issues in Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)
Sociology 421: Processes of Deviant Behavior
Sociology 441: Criminology
Sociology 446: Juvenile Delinquency
Theme Group 3: Law & Social Forces
**AfAm 272: Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right (ethnic st)
**AfAm 671: Topic: Slavery and Emancipation in the US (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
**AfAm671: Topic: Race & Mass Incarceration in US Hist (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
*ChicLa 332: Latinas: Self Identity and Social Change (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
Ed Pol 220: Human Rights and Education
Econ 522: Law and Economics
Envir St 402: Local Gov’t and the Environment
Envir St 439: US Environmental Policy and Regulation
**Hist/Ed Pol 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America (Ethnic Studies) (Comm B)
History 600: Gen, War Crimes, and Human Rights in 20th century
*International St 535: Women’s Global Health and Human Rights
*International St 601: Refugees in Global Context
Legal St. 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
*Legal St. 203: Jewish Law, Business and Ethics
Legal St./Ed Pol 250: Incarceration and Education
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
**Legal St. 400: Incarceration and Inequality
*Legal St. 400: Law and Climate Justice
**Legal St. 400/Soc 496: Race, Family and the State
*Legal St. 400/Soc 496: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective (dars exception needed)
**Legal St. 400: Criminal Injustice in America
Legal St. 400: Criminal Justice & Popular Culture
Legal St. 400/Soc 496: Pornography and Censorship (Requires application: Found Here)
*Legal St. /Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
*Legal St./Envir St./Hist 430: Law and Environment (Comm b)
Legal St. 473: Health Impacts of Unmet Social Needs (application required- Find More Information Here)
Legal St. /LIS 663: Intro to CyberLaw
Psych 401: Psychology, Law and Social Policy
**Public Affairs 520: Inequality, Race and Public Policy (dars exception needed)
**Soc/Asian Am 220: Ethnic Movements in the U.S (Comm B and ethnic st)
Social Work 675: Reproductive Justice (dars exception needed)
Theme Group 4: Law & Culture
Anthropology 350: Political Anthropology
English 174: Literature and Social Justice (Lit)
*English 177: Narco-Narratives (Lit)
**English 182: Doing Time: Race, Labor, Incarceration (Lit) (honors only)
*English 350: Topic: Human Rights and Global Literature (Lit) (dars exception needed)
*Legal St. /English 160: Truth and Crime (Lit)
Legal St. 400: Tribal Court of Appeals Project (Application required)
*Legal St. 450: Ancient Greek & Roman Law (dars exception needed)
Theme Group 5: Law & Theory
History 500: Law, Authority, and Kingship
*Legal St./Hist. 426: History of Punishment
Legal St. 450: Intro to Law & Humanities (dars exception needed)
Legal St. 450: Law, Justice, & Critique (dars exception needed)
Philosophy 341: Contemporary Moral Issues (some sections are Comm B)
Philosophy 555: Political Philosophy (dars exception needed)
Core Perspectives
Legal St./Hist 261: American Legal History to 1860
**Legal St. 400: Criminal Injustice in America
**Legal St. 400: Incarceration and Inequality
*Legal St. 400: Law and Climate Justice
*Legal St./Soc/GWS 406: Law, Sexuality, and Society
Legal St. 400/Soc 496: Pornography and Censorship (Requires application: https://forms.gle/5J6n7KizgqnS9JmZ7)
*Legal St. 400/Soc 496: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective (dars exception needed)
*Legal Studies/History 426: History of Punishment
*Legal Studies/Soc/GWS 425: Crime, Gender and Justice
Legal St/LIS 460: Surveillance, Privacy, and Police Powers
*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.