Students must also complete the Undergraduate Registration Requirement and the degree requirements of their home school.

The Legal Studies major is a 12-course program with 4 core legal studies courses, and 8 approved electives taught in legal studies or drawn from other departments.

Admission to the major is by application only; see the program website for application details. Before applying, students must complete or be in the process of completing LEGAL_ST 206-0 Law and Society and at least 1 approved elective. Students are typically admitted in their second or third years, but first-year, second-year, and third-year students are all welcome to apply.

All legal studies majors must complete the advanced research seminar sequence (LEGAL_ST 398-1 and LEGAL_ST 398-2) and prepare a thesis as part of the course requirements. LEGAL_ST 398-1 and LEGAL_ST 398-2 are typically taken in Fall and Winter of the student's fourth year but may be completed in Fall and Winter of the student's third year if circumstances require. Either way, the courses must be completed in consecutive quarters.

Double-counting note: Weinberg College prohibits double-counting a major course toward some other major or minor, except where this is explicitly permitted in this catalog. Weinberg College does allow double-counting a major course toward a general bachelor's degree requirement (i.e. degree requirements other than majors or minors). Other programs or schools may have their own restrictions that supersede this, so check the relevant parts of this catalog for possible limits.

¹

The approved electives list (below) shows courses that are always applicable electives for legal studies, regardless of the quarter. Refer to the program website for information about which quarters these courses are offered and for updated lists of the variable courses where a topic during a particular quarter and year qualifies that iteration of the class for legal studies elective credit.

²

No more than 1 unit from GESI (INTL_ST 393-0 or INTL_ST 393-SA) may count towards the electives.

³

At most 2 Chicago Field Studies (CFS) credits may be counted with permission of the legal studies adviser. With approval, this may be 2 units of CFS 391-0 Field Studies in Social Justice, CFS 394-0 Legal Field Studies, or CFS 397-0 Field Studies in Civic Engagement. All other CFS courses are eligible for no more than one legal studies elective credit.

⁴

No more than 1 legal studies College Seminar or First-Year Writing Seminar may be applied as an elective. College Seminars and First-Year Writing Seminars in other subjects may not be applied as electives.

Approved Electives

Honors in Legal Studies

Those whose theses and grades meet program criteria are recommended to the college for graduation with honors; students do not need to formally apply for consideration. For more information consult the program director and see Honors in the Major.