For students who declared in Fall 2025 or after, the Criminal Justice Certificate requires a minimum of six courses and a minimum of 16 credits. Students must complete one course from each of the three defined groups and at least three (3) additional elective courses:
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Criminal Justice System
Legal Studies/Sociology 131: Criminal Justice in America
Race & Justice Studies
AfAm671: Topic: Race & Mass Incarceration in US Hist (ethnic st) (dars exception needed)
English 182: Doing Time: Race, Labor, Incarceration (Lit) (honors only)
Legal Studies 400: Criminal Injustice in America
Legal St. 400/Soc 496: Incarceration and Inequality
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)
Fieldwork/Internship/Research Seminar
The primary internship course administered by our program is Legal St./Soc 694. The course requires a concurrent internship. To be eligible for the course, students complete a pre-internship process the semester prior to the internship. The pre-internship process begins with a required orientation. More information can be found here: https://criminaljustice.wisc.edu/academics/internships/
The other listed internship and research opportunities are administered by other programs. Some may be limited to students who are declared in those specific programs. All require advance lead time and authorization for enrollment by the specific program.
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
Electives
Counseling Psych 237: Mental Health, Self-Awareness, and Social Justice: Working in Diverse Communities (ethnic studies)
Counseling Psychology 655: Clinical Communication Skills
Legal Studies 135: Disability and the Criminal Justice System
Legal Studies/English 160: Truth and Crime (Lit)
Legal Studies/Ed Pol 250: Incarceration and Education
Legal St. 400/Soc 496: The Penitentiary in Global Perspective (dars exception needed)
Legal St. 400: Criminal Justice & Popular Culture
Legal Studies/GWS/Soc 425: Crime, Gender, Justice
Legal Studies 426: History of Punishment
Legal Studies 444: Law in Action
Legal St/LIS 460: Surveillance, Privacy, and Police Powers
Legal Studies 641: Sociology of Law
Political Science 314: Criminal Law & Justice
Political Science 401: Politics and Crime
Psychology 401: Psychology, Law, & Social Policies
Psychology 405: Adult Psychopathology
Psychology 526: The Criminal Mind
Psychology 626: Issues in Prisoner Re-Entry (dars exception needed)
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
Sociology 421: Processes of Deviant Behavior
Sociology 441: Criminology
Sociology 446: Juvenile Delinquency