Legal Studies Undergraduate Program

Legal studies majors have access to a robust array of internships, including internships with the Massachusetts trial and appellate court systems, district attorneys’ offices, private law firms, public interest groups, mediation firms, law enforcement, legislators, corporations, and many others. UMass is also the home to the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, the Law and Society Association, and the Five College Seminar in Legal Studies.

Because the Legal Studies major hones students’ critical thinking, conflict resolution, and oral and written communication skills, Legal Studies majors are well-trained for a wide array of careers. While some of our graduates attend law school, you’ll also be well prepared for careers in mediation, court administration, law enforcement, government, public interest, business, and education, or graduate school in other social science and humanities fields.

Students begin the major by taking Introduction to Legal Studies, which offers an interdisciplinary exploration of basic issues of law's relationship to contemporary society, in which law affects almost all human activity. The fundamental understanding of this course is that "law is too important to be left to lawyers." It is intended to foster analytical and critical skills and to discuss broad, interdisciplinary questions of individual responsibility, social morality, and justice.

From there, students take seven classes within the field of legal studies, diving into the topic areas that interest them the most. Their options include everything from The Ethics of AI to Anatomy of a Criminal Jury Trial. Legal Studies faculty have varied backgrounds, so course topics include a wide range of options: human trafficking, judicial decision making, immigration, legal policymaking, alternative dispute resolution, the right to privacy, transitional justice, and more from the prospectives of lawyers, political scientists,  judges, and anthropologists. 

Students also take a course on legal research and writing. They also take Law Related Liberal Arts classes that push them to examine the law from a broader perspective. Finally, they must complete the Global Law and Society requirement, which challenges them to consider the legal system from yet another angle.

Within the major, students are eligible to receive Letters of Specialization in Legal Studies, allowing them to focus their studies, while earning a specialized credential. Letters can be earned in Comparative and International Law; Conflict Resolution; Constitutional Law; Data Analytics for Politics, Policy, and Legal Studies; and Law and Social Justice. Many of our students also double major in departments across the university. 

Admission to the undergraduate degree program in legal studies is granted by the University Undergraduate Admissions Office. Their website shares all requirements and application deadlines. Please note that students may study the major as first year students or as transfer students from another college or university. For particular questions about the major, please email us fnussbaum@umass.edu. 

Legal Studies is an unrestricted major which means a student can declare/change at any time. There are no required prerequisite classes or cumulative GPA required to move into the Legal Studies major.

To meet with an academic advisor, make an advising appointment in Navigate. For Advising Care Unit, choose “Explore How to Declare or Change Majors.” Then, select “Explore Legal Studies Major” as the Service.