The Legal Studies certificate helps students explore how the law applies across the humanities and social sciences. Through courses that build American Bar Association-recommended skills like problem solving, critical reading, and promoting justice, students develop a critical understanding of how the law shapes, and is shaped by, society. Whether they decide to apply to law school or not, students become more informed citizens, ready to make thoughtful judgments about governance, justice, and the law.

Certificates Requirements

The Legal Studies certificate requires six courses as well as an internship or other relevant high-impact experience. Foundational courses explore the historical and philosophical context of legal systems. Law-related courses deepen understanding of specific legal areas and offer insight into the law’s practical application in the realm of public policy. Supporting courses broaden perspectives on the law’s intersection with society and strengthen skills that law schools have traditionally valued. A complete list of courses will be available soon.

• • Two courses from ​​the following list of foundational courses:
    • HIS16-164 History of the U.S.: From Colonies to Nation
    • PHI18-144 Critical Thinking
    • PSC32-204 American Political Thought
  • Two courses from the following list of law-related courses:
    • BUS30-254 Business Law
    • ENV49-364 U.S. Environmental Policy
    • HIS16-314 History of the Civil Rights Movement
    • HIS16-464 History of Human Rights
    • PSC32-324 Sex and the State
    • SOC34-264 Racial and Ethnic Perspectives
  • Two courses from the following list of supporting courses:
    • ANT35-274 Cultural Heritage, Criminal Justice, and Race in the American South
    • ANT35-334 Global Environmental Justice
    • CLA07-334 Emperors Behaving Badly: A History of Roman Imperial Power
    • COM75-154 Public Speaking
    • COM75-204 Rhetorical Theory
    • ENG10-244 Literary Methods
    • HIS16-034 Nations and Nationalism in World History
    • HIS16-324 Rise of the Right: History of the U.S. Conservative Movement
    • HIS16-404 History of the British Isles since 1688
    • PSY33-474 Forensic Psychology
    • PSC32-214 Race and Ethnic Politics
    • PSC32-364 Introduction to Political Theory
    • PSC32-644 Radical Democracy, Radical Activism
    • PHI18-164 Self, Ethics, Society
    • PHI18-214 Politics and Economics
    • PHI18-644 Peoples, Power, Organization
    • REL19-214 Native American Traditions
    • SOC34-284 Sociology of the Family
    • THE72-183 Fundamentals of Acting
  • One three- or four-credit academic internship, approved by the certificate coordinator

Note: Excluding the internship, no more than three courses may come from the same academic department (the same two-digit departmental code) without approval. Additional courses may be considered as substitutions for the above, with approval from the faculty pre-law advisor.

As is the case with all certificates, certificate requirements must be fulfilled with Southwestern courses only; transfer credit, AP/IB scores, or other non-residence SU credit are not accepted.