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LEGALST

Legal Studies

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The department at a glance

All recorded grades
average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades

How grades break down

Grades over time

Red: department · Gray: UW–Madison

About these statistics

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.

Fall 2026

Recorded this term
courses with offerings
instructors recorded

Grades have not been recorded for this term. Historical results remain in the overview above.

Find your next class

27 courses

Historical grades cover up to five years through the selected term. Grade sorting prioritizes courses with at least 100 letter grades.

CIVIL RIGHTS: POLICING, PRISONS, VOTING, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT explores civil rights, discrimination, and legal constraints on government remediation.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

Examines ethnicity, race, and justice with a specific emphasis on US Latinx/e peoples.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Assignments and exams are straightforward, but grading relies heavily on article evaluations with unclear criteria, and the fast lecture pace complicates note-taking.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2024

INCARCERATION AND EDUCATION investigates the historical and operational intersections of incarceration and education systems.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Fall 2025 · limited sample

Examines legal issues, policy decisions, and constitutional issues in US public education.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

TRUTH AND CRIME examines the true crime genre in the US, exploring its narrative and legal dimensions.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2024–Fall 2025

Examines the legal and social development and implications of laws governing sexual behavior and gender.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Students must prepare for potentially very harsh grading by her graders, despite the instructor's engaging lectures.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2025–Spring 2026

Explores the intersection of gender, crime, and justice, examining female experiences and theoretical implications within the criminal justice system.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Students describe the course as extremely difficult with tough grading, though one reviewer found exams manageable if they read and took notes.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2025

Examines the development of prisons from antiquity to the present in the US and Europe, focusing on marginalized populations and carceral tactics.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2025–Spring 2026

This course surveys American legal history from English background through the Civil War, focusing on the origins of modern civil and constitutional rights.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Historical reviews of Richard Keyser: The course requires intense weekly reading, note-taking, and preparation for timed essay exams and take-home papers.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2025

Explores the development of Jewish law from antiquity to modernity, focusing on business practices and ethics.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2023–Fall 2025

SOCIOLOGY OF LAW examines the social origins, processes, and effects of law and legal institutions.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Historical reviews of Alfonso Morales: Reviewers reported excessive reading and writing requirements initially, though the actual workload was reduced by reading only three books.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2025

Introduction to the dynamic relationship between law and the humanities, examining how legal systems shape and are shaped by cultural, historical, and philosophical contexts.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

LEGALST 400 explores issues linking social science perspectives to law and legal institutions.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

The course features an extensive workload with three exams and an 8-10 page paper, which some students found graded harshly despite reasonable exam formats.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

LAW IN ACTION reviews the interaction of law with public policy by studying legal approaches to significant issues.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

LEGALST 600 offers special seminars for international study, summer forums, and other special opportunities.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample

LEGALST 682 is an individual study course for majors writing theses for an honors degree.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

LEGALST 691 is an individual study course for majors to write a nonhonors senior thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

LEGALST 692 is an individual study course for majors to write a nonhonors senior thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

LEGALST 699 is a directed study course in legal studies.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

Introduction to Cyberlaw focuses on critical thinking about legal and policy problems arising from information and communication technologies.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Papers are not hard for confident writers, and the difficulty rating is low, suggesting manageable workload for those with strong writing skills.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Fall 2025 · limited sample

LAW, POLITICS AND SOCIETY introduces the legal process, exploring law's concepts, problems, reasoning, and the function of courts.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

The workload includes one easy paper and straightforward tests, with slides posted online and no required lecture attendance, though reading the book is helpful.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2025

CRIME AND POLITICS introduces concepts analyzing the criminal legal system from a political perspective, examining government responses to crime.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Explores the interaction between the criminal justice system and disability, including disability rights laws and criminal justice reform.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2023–Spring 2026

Examines the functioning, organization, and roles within the U.S. criminal justice system.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Historical reviews of Alyssa Mugavero: Reviewers report that the TA leads discussions poorly, goes in circles, and fails to stay on track, making the learning process difficult.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

A field observation course combining placements in criminal justice agencies with seminars to apply sociological theories to real-world processes.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

Across course levels

Recorded this term

No released grades for this term.

Recorded offerings over time

Offering snapshots currently cover Fall 2026. Earlier grade records do not provide a complete offering history.