Legal Studies Program

The Legal Studies program allows students to explore "law," in all its meanings, through a variety of liberal arts perspectives. Instead of teaching law as a set of rules to learn, we look at the possibilities and limits of law in concept, in practice, in history, and around the world. The program features many challenging courses that draw students who simply find law a fascinating subject to explore, as well providing advising for those considering careers related to law.

Legal Studies Program

Structure of the Concentration

  1. With the assistance of a legal studies advisor from the legal studies steering committee, students will select six courses from those approved by the legal studies steering committee for their concentration in legal studies. Normally no more than two courses under the 400 level may be selected from any single department. It is vital to consult with an advisor affiliated with legal studies since the program offers a variety of special topics courses that count toward the concentration.
  2. One of the six required courses may be an internship related to the field of legal studies. This internship must be selected in consultation with the director or under the supervision of one of the affiliated faculty. Students must register for the internship through the department of the faculty member who supervises the internship.
Affiliated Courses

AMST 231 - Sovereignty Matters: Critical Indigeneity, Gender and Governance
AMST 301 - Critical Prison Studies
ENGL 265 - Literature and Human Rights
HIST 137 - From Confederation to Confederacy: US History from Independence to the Civil War
HIST 209 - Civil Rights in the United States
HIST 225 - Native History to 1871
HIST 226 - American Indian History since 1871
HIST 228 - The Law, Economy, and Family in the Anglo-American Tradition
HIST 235 - Captives, Cannibals, and Capitalists in the Early Modern Atlantic World
HIST 271 - Uses and Abuses: Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
INTD 202 - Intellectual Property
INTL 114 - Introduction to International Studies: International Codes of Conduct
PHIL 121 - Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 220 - Bioethics
PHIL 224 - Philosophy of Law
PHIL 225 - Digital Ethics
PHIL 321 - Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy
POLI 206 - US Constitutional Law and Thought
POLI 207 - US Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
POLI 212 - Litigation and Public Policy in the U.S.
POLI 301 - Law, Economy, and Identity
PSYC 377 - Moral Psychology
RUSS 270 - Wrongdoing in Russian Literature
SOCI 190 - Criminal Behavior/Social Control
SOCI 230 - Affirmative Action Policy
SOCI 280 - Indigenous Peoples' Movements in Global Context
SOCI 310 - Law and Society
SOCI 370 - Political Sociology