Legal Studies (LGST) is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts major focused on legal ideas, institutions, and issues in and beyond the U.S. Our courses introduce students to the integral roles of law in social life, including its complex relation to values and shifting views of justice, rights, liberty, equality, citizenship, and authority; to culture and social practices; and to historical, political, and economic forces and institutions.

Our program is housed under the auspices of the Politics Department, but operates independently and is designed to provide different disciplinary lenses on intersections between law and other realms. These include the relation of law to human rights, civil rights, voting rights, and property rights; to immigration, citizenship, borders, and sovereignty; to racial, gender, and economic inequalities; to environmental and health justice; to the scope and limits of governmental power; to the law of democracy and relation between citizens and the state; to relations between nation-states; and to concerns regarding access to justice, justice gaps, and historical and systemic injustices.

Students who join this major have the opportunity to take courses with faculty from a range of backgrounds in the social sciences, humanities, arts, and law. Our curriculum includes course offerings spanning from anthropology, art, economics, environmental studies, feminist studies, history, Latin American and Latino studies, literature, music, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology. This allows our students to engage their interests through different approaches and analytical frameworks, and to consider many dimensions of law and its operation. For example, legal studies students might learn how to use approaches from psychology or philosophy to think about crime and punishment; they might use approaches from political theory or economics to think about property rights or social welfare policies; they might consider civil rights or privacy issues through approaches from critical race theory or feminist studies; they might use approaches from history or sociology to consider law in different eras or in relation to different groups; they might use approaches from politics to consider human rights and legal systems outside the U.S.

The legal studies major provides a broad academic platform from which students can pursue many different career paths and/or advanced studies. Alumni from our program work in many areas: law and the legal profession, government, non-profits, education, health, and community services, technology and software engineering, business, consulting and accounting, the entertainment industry, media, journalism, and communications. Our alums are also successful in pursuing graduate degrees in many fields. Although legal studies is often of interest to students considering law school or law-related careers, the major is not designed as “pre-law” or preparation for law school. (Students who are considering law school should visit the Career Center's website and pre-law coach.

Our program strongly encourages students to enrich their studies with additional learning and opportunities. Legal Studies sponsors a speakers series and co-sponsors other talks and events, including career and alumni panels. We also encourage students to pursue internships or field experiences, such as through our legal studies internship seminar (LGST 185); Legal Aid & Advocacy (LGST 188A and OAKS 188B/LGST 188B) through the UCDC program, a one-quarter study and internship program in Washington, D.C.; or through the UC Center Sacramento, which offers a one-quarter study and internship program at the state capitol. Students may also want to study abroad through Global Learning at UC Santa Cruz, and some may want to consider developing independent research projects on topics of special interest to them.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the major, undergraduates with a B.A. in Legal Studies will have met the following objectives:

✔ Describe, explain, and compare the sources and functions of law in the U.S. and other national or international contexts, including drawing on theoretical perspectives, institutional perspectives, and social/cultural perspectives;

✔ Analyze the role of laws, courts, and other legal institutions in broader society, including the historical, social, political, and economic contexts in which it operates;

✔ Evaluate the operation and function of legal norms, practices, and systems/institutions from a variety of disciplinary and social perspectives;

✔ Apply and critically evaluate arguments about legal principles and norms, practices, and institutions based on logic and evidence, and from a variety of disciplinary perspectives; and

✔ Develop and communicate well-organized, persuasive, and well-supported written and oral arguments and analyses regarding law and legal issues based on appropriate empirical and/or theoretical evidence and logic.

A degree in Latin American and Latino studies (LALS) and sociology trains students to be critical and analytical thinkers, to be active, engaged global citizens, and to be skilled strategic activists in making the world a more just place for all. A combined LALS and sociology B.A. prepares students to learn from and work with people from a variety of cultures and perspectives, to understand the complexity of current and past societies and social moments, to discover how political, economic, and cultural aspects inform the social, and to use skills from many disciplines and fields.

Sociology is the study of social interactions among individuals and social groups. More specifically, sociologists examine cultural, ideological, economic, and political structures and the processes whereby social institutions are created, maintained, and transformed. The combined B.A. in LALS and sociology allows students to focus their study of sociological contexts and processes within Latinx and Latin American communities.

Program Learning Outcomes

LALS Program Learning Outcomes:

✔ Critical Thinking. Ability to analyze from a transnational/transborder/translocal perspective—to see the interconnections between Latin American and Latino issues, people, ideas, problems and solutions. This includes key skills, such as understanding sources, comparing arguments, analysis, and historical perspective.

✔ Research Methods. Working knowledge of social scientific and/or humanistic approaches to LALS relevant topics. This includes acquiring qualitative and quantitative skills, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research methods.

✔ Communication. Key communication skills, including written, oral presentation, and digital, including an understanding of media sources and ability to apply media literacy to cross-cultural analysis.

✔ Lifelong Learning Skills. Acquisition of practical hands-on skills in community engagement, cross-cultural fluency, familiarity with Latin America, and familiarity with Latino experience acquired through experiential learning while working with community and civic organizations.

Sociology Program Learning Outcomes:

✔ Demonstrate critical thinking and critical citizenship skills intended to promote social justice through the ability to analyze and evaluate social, political, and/or cultural arguments.

✔ Demonstrate sociological understandings of phenomena, for example, how individual biographies are shaped by social structures, social institutions, cultural practices, and multiple axes of difference and/or inequality.

✔ Formulate effective and convincing written and/or oral arguments.

✔ Demonstrate an understanding of, and the ability to use, several of the major classical and/or contemporary perspectives in social theory.

✔ Demonstrate an understanding of several of the major social science research methodologies.

✔ Demonstrate knowledge of some of the key substantive areas within the field of sociology.

A degree in Latin American and Latino studies (LALS) and politics trains students to be critical and analytical thinkers, to be active, engaged global citizens, and to be skilled scholar-activists making the world a more just place for all. A combined LALS and politics B.A. prepares students to collaborate across cultural differences, to understand and interpret complex political moments and social movements, and to integrate interdisciplinary tools and skills, to understand the complexity of current and past political moments, to discover how social, economic, and cultural aspects inform the political, and to use skills from many disciplines and fields.

Since political issues and practices are embedded in and reflective of the whole experience of a community, the study of politics can constitute the center of a broad-based course of study drawing on many areas including history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, economics, literature, science, and law. The combined B.A. in LALS and politics allows students to focus their study of political issues and social movements within Latinx and Latin American communities.

Program Learning Outcomes

Latin American and Latino Studies Program Learning Outcomes:

✔ Critical Thinking. Ability to analyze from a transnational/transborder/translocal perspective—to see the interconnections between Latin American and Latino issues, people, ideas, problems and solutions. This includes key skills, such as understanding sources, comparing arguments, analysis, and historical perspective.

✔ Research Methods. Working knowledge of social scientific and/or humanistic approaches to LALS relevant topics. This includes acquiring qualitative and quantitative skills, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research methods.

✔ Communication. Key communication skills, including written, oral presentation, and digital, including an understanding of media sources and ability to apply media literacy to cross-cultural analysis.

✔ Lifelong Learning Skills. Acquisition of practical hands-on skills in community engagement, cross-cultural fluency, familiarity with Latin America, and familiarity with Latino experience acquired through experiential learning, and working with community and civic organizations.

Politics Program Learning Outcomes:

✔ Understand the origins, development, and nature of political institutions, practices, and ideas;

✔ Place particular political phenomena in broader context (national, historical, cross-cultural, and theoretical, etc);

✔ Demonstrate familiarity with various theoretical approaches to the study of politics, and their application in different geographic and substantive areas;

✔ Critically evaluate arguments about political institutions, practices, and ideas based on logic and evidence;

✔ Develop and sustain coherent written and oral arguments regarding political phenomena, theories, and values based on appropriate empirical and/or textual evidence and logic.

A combined major in Latin American and Latino studies (LALS, pronounced el-ay-el-es) and education, democracy, and justice (EDJ, pronounced "edge") builds on both departments’ interdisciplinary social justice orientations to bridge theory and practice, with core required courses and elective field experiences that incorporate history and insights from participatory forms of research and community organizing to highlight the relationships between educational justice, Latina/o/x studies, democratic politics, race studies, and social change.

LALS courses train students to be critical and analytical thinkers; to be active, engaged global citizens; and to be skilled strategic activists in making the world a more just place for all. Study in LALS prepares students to learn from and work with people from a variety of cultures and perspectives, to understand the complexity of our current political, social, and cultural moment, and to use skills from many disciplines and fields. LALS investigates the historical, economic, social, and cultural processes that are shaping and transforming the Americas region, including California. By viewing societies as interrelated—specifically U.S. Latino/a communities and Latin American/Caribbean communities—LALS analyzes how local, regional, global, and transnational dimensions affect histories, politics, ethnicities, races, and cultures.

EDJ courses provide opportunities to examine critical questions, theories, practices, and research in the field of education, considered broadly and not only in relation to formal schooling. Courses in the major provide the conceptual knowledge for students to engage in critical thinking about social and policy contexts as well as everyday practices affecting inequitable structures in schooling, society, and culture that have enduring impacts on the quality of our democracy and communities.

Students choosing a combined major in LALS and EDJ will find themselves prepared for a wide variety of careers and/or graduate study, including teaching credential programs and/or masters degrees in education, Ph.D. programs, public policy, educational administration, and inclusive student outreach programming. Students may also choose to complete a second major or minor program alongside the combined major, to focus in a specific area of instruction in preparation for a single subject teaching credential.

Program Learning Outcomes

✔ Critical Thinking. Ability to analyze from a transnational/transborder/translocal perspective—to see the interconnections between Latin American and Latino issues, people, ideas, problems, and solutions. This includes key skills, such as understanding sources, comparing arguments, analysis, and historical perspective. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the key theoretical perspectives and existing research on innovative teaching and learning approaches that value and promote historically disadvantaged and underserved communities and their cultural and linguistic resources. Students will demonstrate knowledge of broad historical, social, and political contexts that impact equal opportunity to learn and contribute to society, and the role that education and schooling can play in expanding opportunity.

✔ Research Methods. Working knowledge of social scientific and/or humanistic approaches to LALS relevant topics. This includes acquiring qualitative and quantitative skills, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research methods. Students will apply critical perspectives in reflecting on and/or conducting research and/or fieldwork, and present their findings in multi-modal forms.

✔ Communication. Key communication skills, including written, oral presentation, and digital, including an understanding of media sources and ability to apply media literacy to cross-cultural analysis. Students will demonstrate oral and written communication skills through individual and group presentations and assignments in their courses.

✔ Language. Proficiency in Spanish.

✔ Lifelong Learning Skills. Acquisition of practical hands-on skills in community engagement, cross-cultural fluency, familiarity with Latin America, and familiarity with Latino experience acquired through experiential learning while working with community and civic organizations. Students will demonstrate basic knowledge of transformative teaching and learning principles that can be applied in a wide range of learning environments and youth serving educational organizations.

A degree in Latin American and Latino studies (LALS) trains students to be critical and analytical thinkers, to be active, engaged global citizens, and to be skilled strategic activists in making the world a more just place for all. An LALS bachelor of arts (B.A.) prepares students to learn from and work with people from a variety of cultures and perspectives, to understand the complexity of our current political, social, and cultural moment, and to use skills from many disciplines and fields.

Program Learning Outcomes

✔ Critical Thinking. Ability to analyze from a transnational/transborder/translocal perspective—to see the interconnections between Latin American and Latino issues, people, ideas, problems, and solutions. This includes key skills, such as understanding sources, comparing arguments, analysis, and historical perspective.

✔ Research Methods. Working knowledge of social scientific and/or humanistic approaches to LALS relevant topics. This includes acquiring qualitative and quantitative skills, gathering or obtaining research data, finding/using primary sources, and other research methods.

✔ Communication. Key communication skills, including written, oral presentation, and digital, including an understanding of media sources and ability to apply media literacy to cross-cultural analysis.

✔ Lifelong Learning Skills. Acquisition of practical hands-on skills in community engagement, cross-cultural fluency, familiarity with Latin America, and familiarity with Latino experience acquired through experiential learning while working with community and civic organizations.

Language studies is an interdisciplinary major offered by the Linguistics Department. It is designed to equip students with advanced competence in a foreign language and, at the same time, provide them with an understanding of the general nature of human language—its structure and use. The major also provides an opportunity to explore the culture or cultures connected with the language of concentration. The cultural context electives may include courses in art, history, literature or politics. Currently, majors may choose a concentration in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish. Interested students should contact the Linguistics Department office early in their college careers to obtain essential information about requirements. The requirements for the major may also be found in the Requirements and Planners tab above.

Students interested in spending a portion of a year or a full year studying abroad should review the UCSC Global Learning website. A senior year abroad is approved only when all of the language proficiency requirements have been satisfied and when it is clear that any remaining courses can be satisfactorily completed abroad. Courses taken abroad may be used to satisfy major requirements only if approved by the undergraduate program director or a designated advisor. A maximum of three outside courses may be used toward the major.

Program Learning Outcomes

The program learning outcomes for this major are the following:

✔ Analytical Thinking
Students will formulate testable hypotheses, and present them clearly and completely. Students will accurately and insightfully use relevant evidence to evaluate hypotheses and determine routes for future investigation.

✔ Writing
Students will formulate well-organized written arguments. At the micro-level, sentences will be grammatical, follow appropriate conventions, and strike an appropriate balance of clarity and complexity. At the macro-level, sentences will be linked together into paragraphs, and paragraphs into logical sections of a larger document.

✔ Properties of Language
Students will apply analytical techniques to identify general properties of language, including but not limited to sound structure, word structure, sentence structure, meaning, use, and language processing. Students will explain the significance of relevant universal properties in some domain.

✔ Linguistics Theory and Investigation
Students will demonstrate an active command of linguistic theory and linguistic investigation in at least one area of linguistic theory, including but not limited to morphology, phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, syntax, and semantics.

✔ Second Language Proficiency
Students will demonstrate proficiency in a second language at an advanced level.

The interdisciplinary program in Jewish studies introduces students to the study of classical, medieval, early modern, and modern Jewish cultures and to the range of disciplines that bear upon the field.

The Jewish studies major and minor offer students the chance to study Jewish communities and cultures across the world, with special reference (though not limited) to modern issues. The major and minor will help them prepare to move successfully into graduate programs in a variety of disciplines, especially in humanities, social sciences, and pre-professional programs, and will provide students with a grounding in materials fundamental to a liberal arts education. This program connects with a range of disciplines and programs on the University of California, Santa Cruz, campus that explore the meanings of modernity; at the same time, this program will help students develop analytical tools, methodological versatility, and critical literacy.

Note that modernity here is not defined as unfolding solely in Europe or North America; the Jewish studies program intends to speak to modernity as a global phenomenon, dealing with sites where Jews lived. In the 19th and 20th centuries Jews were widely spread across the globe and often played active and influential roles in their communities. These include such places as China, India, Latin America, North Africa, the Middle East, as well as Europe and North America.

Program Learning Outcomes

Jewish History and Culture

✔ Identify and interpret major events, figures, and topics in Jewish history and culture.

Holocaust

✔ Demonstrate thorough knowledge of the Holocaust as a historical phenomenon.

✔ Develop a nuanced understanding of the cultural dimensions of the Holocaust through an analysis of literature, films, art, and/or music.

Jewish Languages

✔ Develop basic competency in Hebrew (modern or Biblical) or Yiddish.

Critical Analysis

✔ Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.

✔ Evaluate competing interpretations and multiple narratives of the past.

✔ Analyze Jewish cultural sources, including literary texts, films, and music within a broader, cross-cultural context.

Effective Communication

✔ Present clear and compelling arguments, based on critical analysis of diverse literary, historical, film, and/or musical sources, and effectively communicate interpretations in written essays and/or other media.

Scope

✔ Classical through Modern periods.

The history of art and visual culture (HAVC) curriculum guides students in acquiring skill in critical thinking about art and visual culture, leading to a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree. The lower-division HAVC courses numbered 10-85, intended for general education students and prospective majors, provide an introduction to the field of visual culture according to geographic areas and visual traditions within those areas. Upper-division HAVC courses numbered 110-189 cover a broad range of issues in various aspects of world cultures from earliest times to the present. The most advanced HAVC courses, numbered in the 190-191 series, are taught in seminar format. Students also have the opportunity to take independent study courses and write senior theses.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates from the history of art and visual culture B.A. program will have demonstrated the following:

✔ Breadth of Cultural Knowledge

Students will be able to demonstrate an appreciation for, and foundation in, visual studies grounded in a range of historical, social, cultural, and ideological perspectives.

✔ Critical Thinking

Students will be able to apply critical thinking skills that will enable them to analyze and solve problems through observation, experience, reflection, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and/or explanation of visual, material, and historical cultural forms and values. Students will demonstrate critical thinking skills through oral and/or written communication.

✔ Research Proficiency

Students will be able to formulate research questions that expand their knowledge of art and visual culture. Students will be able to apply research methods to answer these questions by consulting the current literature and developing independent results through archival, library, or field research.

✔ Written Communication

Students will be able to present clear visual and historical analysis and interpretation in writing. Students will be able to demonstrate standard writing conventions in visual studies appropriate to purpose and context.

History is about the past, but it is also about understanding the world we live in today. Our faculty seek to understand and help you understand how the challenges that confront us today like economic inequality, environmental degradation, and racism developed and changed over time. We also explore the patterns of social movements and political transformation that help us understand how people change the world.

Students often think of studying history as a matter of memorizing names and dates. While having a command of basic facts is important, college-level study of history shifts the focus to learning how to ask illuminating questions about the past. History majors at the University of California, Santa Cruz, cultivate a broad understanding of human history across time and space and develop deep knowledge of a particular region of the world. At the same time, they learn how to ask transformative questions, develop their ability to answer them through effective research, and convey their ideas clearly and persuasively through strong communication skills.

Students and their parents alike often express the sentiment that history is fascinating, but sometimes raise questions about its practicality as a college major. However, substantial research demonstrates that history majors thrive in their careers, and employers often express a need for the skills that studying history instills. A history major isn’t just fascinating; it’s a path to success. History majors develop skills in critical reading, effective research, analytical thinking, and clear, persuasive communication. Such skills are the essential foundation for jobs directly connected with the field, like teaching, research, and working in public history venues such as museums, archives, and libraries. These skills are also invaluable to careers in law, business, government, foreign service, management, publishing, journalism, social media, and many other areas. The ability to identify and access salient information, evaluate it critically, and use it to engage in constructive debate is essential for navigating a complex, dynamic, and global world. Visit our website for selected reports on the value of the history major.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the history major graduate with the following:

History

✔ Understanding of a basic narrative of historical events in a specific region of the world.

Critical Reading

✔ The ability to distinguish primary and secondary sources.

✔ The ability to evaluate historical ideas, arguments, and points of view.

✔ The ability to evaluate competing interpretations and multiple narratives of the past.

Research and Evidence

✔ The ability to gather and assess primary historical evidence.

✔ The ability to compile a bibliography.

Communication

✔ The ability to present clear and compelling arguments, based on critical analysis of diverse historical sources, and effectively communicate your interpretations in written essays and/or other media.

✔ The ability to develop a research question and complete a well-supported piece of historical writing about it.

Scope and Thematics

✔ Through completion of a combination of courses, become familiar with the history of:

    - The pre-modern world

    - The modern world

    - Transnational or transcultural circulations of ideas, people, and material goods

    - One or more national histories

    - Regional comparisons

Global economics is an economics major focusing on global issues with an interdisciplinary element. It is designed to prepare students to understand and participate in the global economy; the program aims to deepen the student’s knowledge of economics within a culturally and linguistically diverse world. The major is particularly useful to students contemplating careers at home or overseas in international relations, in international business, or with international organizations. Hence the major requires overseas study, regional area study, and second-language proficiency in addition to the basic economics requirements and additional emphasis in international economics.

Program Learning Outcomes

Program learning outcomes for economics, economics and mathematics, business management economics, and global economics majors:

✔ Critical Thinking Skills: Students are expected to be able to apply economic analysis to everyday problems in real world situations, to understand current events and evaluate specific policy proposals, and to evaluate the role played by assumptions in arguments that reach different conclusions to a specific economic or policy problem.

✔ Quantitative Reasoning Skills: Students are expected to understand how to use empirical evidence to evaluate the validity of an economic argument, use statistical methodology, interpret statistical results, and conduct appropriate statistical analysis of data.

✔ Problem-Solving Skills: Students are expected to be able to solve problems that have clear solutions and to address problems that do not have clear answers and explain conditions under which these solutions may be correct.

✔ Specialized Knowledge and Application of Skills: Students are expected to develop critical and quantitative thinking skills specific to business and accounting.

✔ Communication Skills: Students are expected to be able to communicate effectively in written, oral, and graphical form about specific issues, and to formulate well-organized written arguments that state assumptions and hypotheses supported by evidence.