Legal Studies begins with a set of core courses, which, taken together, offer an interdisciplinary, liberal arts framework and a foundational knowledge of legal concepts, theories, and practices. Courses are drawn from Sociology, Communications Studies, Philosophy, Politics, and Business. The core curriculum will provide students with the requisite knowledge and perspectives necessary to create a self-designed concentration of 15 credits that will be created in close-consultation with their academic advisor. This concentration will immerse students in a subject area of interest to deepen their understanding of the topic. At the advanced level, students will be required to take a course on legal research, and a capstone course that will involve either an intensive internship experience, closely directed by a faculty advisor, or an intensive research seminar.
Summary
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| 39 |
| 1 | 28-40 |
| 41-53 |
| Total Credits | 120 |
1 See Integrative Core Curriculum requirements, with information about the H&S CLA requirement.
Degree Requirements
1 Courses designated with a Legal Studies Major-Concentration attribute may have additional prerequisites that the student is responsible for meeting.
SAMPLE CONCENTRATIONS
Students have many options for developing concentrations; the tables below show a few concentrations in particular focus areas that provide examples of the types of concentrations that can be designed.
Politics of Law
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| POLT 10100 | U.S. Politics | 3 |
| CSCR 23700 | Policing the Borderlands: Power, Policy, and Justice | 3 |
| or CSCR 21100 | American Gangster: Social Portrayals of Gangs |
| HIST 24000 | Reimagining America: Politics, Religion, and Reform in the Antebellum U.S., 1815-1860 | 3 |
| or HIST 24500 | The American Civil War |
| or HIST 24600 | After the American Civil War: Race, Reconstruction, & Reconciliation |
| POLT 30300 | Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| or POLT 31000 | Supreme Court in U.S. Politics |
| or POLT 33400 | Politics of Rights and Culture |
| LGST 30600 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| or LGST 31000 | Issues in Digital Law: Privacy, Identity, Security in the Digital Age |
| Total Credits | 15 |
Crime, Social Control and Law
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| CSCR 21100 | American Gangster: Social Portrayals of Gangs | 3 |
| HIST 26700 | The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 | 3 |
| or PSYC 26000 | Psychology of Privilege and Oppression |
| or SOCI 21700 | Mental Health in Historical and Social Contexts |
| CSCR 35200 | Punishment, Prisons, and Democracy | 3 |
| or POLT 33400 | Politics of Rights and Culture |
| LGST 30600 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| or LGST 31000 | Issues in Digital Law: Privacy, Identity, Security in the Digital Age |
| SOCI 30200 | | 3 |
| or SOCI 32200 | Forms of Punishment |
| Total Credits | 15 |
Philosophy of Law
Communication, Law and Culture
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| CMST 11000 | Public Communication | 3 |
| or CMST 11500 | Business and Professional Communication |
| or CMST 12000 | Communication, Culture, and Rhetoric |
| CMST 21500 | Argumentation and Debate | 3 |
| CMST 32000 | Communication, Conflict, and Negotiation | 3 |
| or CMST 32100 | Oral Advocacy in Arbitration and the Courts |
| POLT 30300 | Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| or POLT 31000 | Supreme Court in U.S. Politics |
| POLT 33400 | Politics of Rights and Culture | 3 |
| or CMST 36000 | Race and Public Policy |
| Total Credits | 15 |
