The Criminal Justice Certificate is an interdisciplinary certificate in which you take courses from a variety of departments. Students who declared before Fall 2025 are required to take one course from each group. One of those courses should substantially deal with race and justice and are marked below with (**).
Please refer to the list below for the most accurate list of courses offered that fulfill certificate requirements. If a course appears below and is not listed on your dars report, please email cjcp@ssc.wisc.edu.
Criminal Justice Courses During Other Semesters
Group 1: Criminal Justice System
Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America
Group 2: Theories of Crime and Deviant Behavior
Psychology 526: The Criminal Mind
Sociology 421: Processes of Deviant Behavior
Sociology 441: Criminology
Sociology 446: Juvenile Delinquency
Group 3: Crime and Justice/Operations of the Justice System
**AfAm671: Topic: Race & Mass Incarceration in US Hist (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
Civil Soc & Community Studies 410: Human Trafficking (dars exception needed)
**English 182: Doing Time: Race, Labor, Incarceration (Lit) (honors only)
Legal Studies 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
Legal Studies/Ed Pol 250: Incarceration and Education (dars exception needed)
Legal Studies/GWS/Soc 425: Crime, Gender, Justice
Legal Studies 426: History of Punishment
**Legal Studies 400: Criminal Injustice in America
**Legal St. 400/Soc 496: Incarceration and Inequality
Legal St. 400/Soc 496: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective (dars exception needed)
Legal St/LIS 460: Surveillance, Privacy, and Police Powers
Political Science 314: Criminal Law & Justice
Political Science 401: Politics and Crime
Psychology 401: Psychology, Law, & Social Policies
Psychology 626: Issues in Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)
Group 4: Broader Psycho/Socio/Economic Processes Related to Criminal Justice
Legal Studies/English 160: Truth and Crime (Lit)
**History/Ed Pol 143: History of Race and Inequality in Urban America (Ethnic St) (Comm b)
**HDFS 474: Racial Ethnic Families in U.S. (Ethnic St)
Legal St. 400: Criminal Justice & Popular Culture
Legal Studies 444: Law in Action
Legal Studies 641: Sociology of Law
Psychology 405: Adult Psychopathology
Social Work 453 Substance Use Disorders
Social Work 462: Child Welfare
Social Work 623: Interpersonal Violence (dars exception needed)
Social Work 646: Child Abuse and Neglect
Group 5: Ethnography-Internship Prep
Counseling Psych 225: Intersectionalities, Self -Awareness, And Social Actions For Social Change (ethnic studies)
Counseling Psych 237: Mental Health, Self-Awareness, and Social Justice: Working in Diverse Communities (ethnic studies)
Counseling Psychology 620: Interviewing (dars exception needed)
Counseling Psychology 655: Clinical Communication Skills
Com Arts 260: Communication and Human Behavior (dars exception needed)
Com Arts 262: Argumentation and Debate (Comm B) (dars exception needed)
Com Arts 266: Theory and Practice of Group Discussion (Comm B) (dars exception needed)
Comm Arts 272: Introduction to Interpersonal Communication (Comm B) (dars exception needed)
Com Arts 565: Communication and Interethnic Behavior (Ethnic Studies)
History 300: History at Work
Inter-HE 202: Careers and Leadership Dev (SOHE Majors only)
Inter-LS 210: L&S Career Development (1 credit)
Inter-LS 215: Communicating about Careers (Comm B)
Social Work 441: Generalist Practice; Individuals, Families & Groups (SW Majors only)
Group 6: Fieldwork/Internship Seminar- All Internships must be Criminal/Juvenile Justice/Law/Policy Related
Legal St 694: Field Observation in Criminal Justice & Legal Studies
- 3 credits and offered every semester. Students are enrolled in legal studies 694 at the same time they are interning.
- In order to get permission to enroll in legal studies 694, 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.
Legal Studies 400: Tribal Court of Appeals Project (Application required)
Legal St. 473: Health Impacts of Unmet Social Needs (Find more information & application here)
Below are opportunities in other departments that will fulfill the Group 6 requirement. Please refer to each program’s requirements for admission. Internships must be criminal/juvenile justice/legal/policy related.
HDFS 592: Research Experience in HDFS
Political Science 315: Legislative Internship (If you are interested in enrolling in PS 315, once you have an internship in place, please email Amy Gangl at agangl@wisc.edu with the name and email contact info of your internship office supervisor, the number of hours you will be working each week during the semester (a minimum of 7-9 hours required), and your campus ID number.
Pub Affr 327: Administrative Internship
Pub Affr 360: Workshop in Health Policy (pre-req is PA 200, find more info here)
Pub Affr 369: Workshop in Public Policy (pre-req is PA 200, find more info here)
Rehab Psychology & Special Ed 630: Internship in Rehabilitation or Special Ed (Contact Rebecca Bradbury, rebecca.bradbury@wisc.edu, for questions regarding requisites and course permissions.)
Social Work 400: Field Practice and Integrative Seminar I