Browse all Legal Studies courses →
Red: department · Gray: UW–Madison
GPA and percentages are weighted by recorded letter grades. UW comparisons use the same terms. Cross-listed courses count once within this department and once across UW; department totals should not be added together. Grade counts are not unique students. Offering counts reflect captured records, not a complete historical schedule.
Grades have not been recorded for this term. Historical results remain in the overview above.
No released grades for this term.
25 courses
Criminal Injustice in America examines how the carceral system is essential to constructing and maintaining the racial order in the United States through surveillance, detention, and legal processes.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
A historical survey of federal Indian law and policy covering contemporary issues, jurisdiction, sovereignty, and federal trust duties.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Studies immigration, crime, and border enforcement through historical and present-day debates, focusing on Latinx/e immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Michael Light
Lectures moved quickly, requiring familiarity with numbers and prior stats knowledge. Exams were detailed and demanded precise recall of graphs, while written assignments received mixed feedback on their difficulty.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Law and Public Education examines legal issues related to policy decisions and delivery of public elementary and secondary education in the United States.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores the legal system, laws, and proposed legislation impacting women's lives within social and legal contexts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Sarah Frank
Assessments were described as fairly easy for students who completed the readings, attended lectures, and took notes.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026Examines legal and social implications of laws governing sexual behavior, reproduction, media, and privacy, focusing on US systems and global institutions.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Frankie Frank
Students had to pay close attention in class because slides were not posted, and they were encouraged to attend office hours for support.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2025–Spring 2026Explores the intersection of gender, crime, and justice from a cross-cultural perspective, examining women's experiences in the criminal justice system and theoretical implications.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Frankie Frank
Students described the class as extremely hard, with tough grading and difficult tests. One student noted that assignment descriptions often arrived only 3-5 days before due dates.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025Surveys the development of American law from the Civil War to the early Twenty-First Century, examining its interaction with political, social, and cultural change.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Examines punishment across ancient, medieval, and modern traditions through law, literature, art, and philosophy.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Karl Shoemaker
Assignments were easy and straightforward, typically taking five to ten minutes, but the provided readings were relevant yet lengthy and dense.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Examines diverse paths of forensic science and medical jurisprudence in the English-speaking world from the nineteenth century to the present.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleLegal Pluralism explores historical and anthropological perspectives on non-state law, including systems of rules generated by normative orders beyond the state.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sampleIntroduction to Law and Humanities examines how legal systems interact with cultural, historical, and philosophical contexts through literature, film, and philosophy.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
This course links social sciences perspectives to central themes of law and legal institutions, analyzing how social, political, and cultural phenomena shape law and its impacts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Frankie Frank
Workload varied by term, with one student citing three exams and an 8–10 page paper, while another found exams low-stress if prepared.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Law in Action reviews the interaction of law (judicial decisions, legislation, administrative actions) with public policy, studying approaches to resolve significant issues and examining their actual impact.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Senior Honors Thesis is an individual study course for Legal Studies majors writing theses for their honors degree.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Individual study for Legal Studies majors writing theses for their honors degree.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Individual study for majors writing a non-honors senior thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Individual study for Legal Studies majors writing a nonhonors senior thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
Directed study in legal studies.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Surveillance, Privacy, and Police Powers examines individual privacy and government information collection in law enforcement, security, public health, and administrative law from varied disciplinary perspectives.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2025–Fall 2025 · limited sampleExamines intellectual freedom in the U.S., covering censorship, minors' rights, the Internet, privacy, and copyright through First Amendment theory and history.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anuj Desai
A student reported hundreds of pages of weekly reading and said participation counted for 40% of the grade.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sampleIntroduction to transitional justice in world politics, examining how local, domestic, and international institutions address the legacies of human rights abuses.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2025–Fall 2025 · limited sampleExamines the intersection of disability and the criminal justice system, focusing on factors like poverty and homelessness that contribute to mass incarceration, alongside federal disability rights laws.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2023–Spring 2026Examines the day-to-day functioning of the U.S. criminal justice system, focusing on the sociology of police, lawyers, courts, and corrections, as well as the nature, causes, and solutions of crime.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Irene Katele
The class was not easy but manageable if students attended every lecture, completed all readings, and studied regularly.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Criminal Justice Field Observation combines field placements in criminal justice agencies with seminars to develop a sociological understanding of criminal justice processes by applying concepts and theories to field experience.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026