The Adjunct Major

The Legal Studies major is an adjunct major, which means that students must have another major as well. The major and minor are situated in WCAS, but are open to undergraduates in all schools. Because demand for the required Advanced Research Seminar often exceeds the enrollment limits, admission to the major is by application only. Eleven quarter-courses are required for the major. Students are required to have taken two "law-related" courses (one of which could be "in progress") before they apply for the major. Any class listed as a Legal Studies elective meets this requirement.

Two required courses for the major are the Advanced Research Seminar. The seminar typically is taken in the junior year, after acceptance into the Legal Studies major. The remaining nine courses are electives, chosen from a list of approved Legal Studies electives. Legal Studies majors are required to take at least one course from each of five categories of electives:

Area A Theory/Philosophy (Jurisprudence)
Area B Global/Comparative Perspectives
Area C Institutions/Organizations/Economics
Area D Law and Inequality
Area E Legal Argument/Communications

Each quarter, the Center will post on the web what courses will meet area requirements. Two of the electives may be double counted toward other majors. (Additional courses may be counted as "related courses" as required in some majors).

The Director may approve a course offered in a particular year as a substitution for an elective course when the syllabus demonstrates a legal studies emphasis. If you know of a course that does not currently count as a Legal Studies elective but may be a good addition to the program please download and complete the Petition for Legal Studies credit form. In certain cases, students who are combining a major in Legal Studies with a major in another field that also requires a senior research seminar may arrange to fulfill their Advanced Research Seminar requirement in a combined, but expanded, project. Students who achieve a grade point average of 3.5 in Legal Studies courses and write a research seminar thesis of distinction will be awarded Departmental Honors.

Students interested in the adjunct major in Legal Studies should consult with the Program Assistant for Legal Studies, Lauren Stuhldreher, at 847-467-2207, or email legalstudies@northwestern.edu

Application Process

Applications are available in early March and are due in late April.

Departmental Honors Guidelines

The Legal Studies Program Honors Committee will nominate students for Program Honors according to the following guidelines and in accordance with Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences requirements.

All decisions regarding nomination for Departmental Honors shall be made by the Legal Studies Program Honors Committee. The Program Honors Committee will be composed of the professors of the Advanced Research Seminar in a given year and the Director of the Center for Legal Studies. The Director of Legal Studies serves as departmental honors coordinator.

For 2012-2013 The Legal Studies Departmental Honors Committee consists of:

Laura Beth Nielsen, Director, Center for Legal Studies
Joanna Grisinger , Senior Lecturer, Center for Legal Studies

Students must have previously completed or be expected to complete the Legal Studies Advanced Research Seminar sequence (Legal Studies 398-1 and 398-2) by the end of the academic year.
Students are required to have attained a Legal Studies GPA of 3.5 or higher, computed from courses listed in the University catalog under Legal Studies and those courses which are eligible for Legal Studies elective credit.
All students in the Advanced Research Seminar are required to complete a thesis of twenty to thirty pages in length. Throughout the seminar, students work closely with faculty and teaching assistants to develop their theses. Faculty and teaching assistants will provide feedback, advice, and constructive criticism of students’ theses to help each student complete his or her project.
For those seniors who have already completed the Advanced Research Seminar, completion of thesis that has been deemed worthy of distinction is required for honors nomination. The theses of those seniors currently enrolled in the seminar will be evaluated prior to the honors submission deadline.
A Thesis of Distinction will be determined by the faculty and teaching assistants of the Advanced Research Seminar, as well as the director of the Legal Studies Program. To achieve distinction, a thesis must present original ideas supported by thorough research of legal and/or empirical materials.