Courses

Courses in Fulfillment of the Critical Race Studies Specialization

Overview: Students are required to take six courses to complete the program, including 2 core courses, 2 courses in comparative analysis, 2 applied courses (one doctrine and one practice), as specified below.  Students must also fulfill a writing requirement by completing a 35 page paper, double-spaced.  The requirement is further described below under the subheading "CRS Writing Requirement."  The cumulative GPA within these courses must be a B- or higher in order to gain the Critical Race Studies certification.  Students can use an Externship in place of the applied practice course.

Core Courses (Required; recommended to be taken in the 2nd year)

• Civil Rights 214
• Critical Race Theory 266

Two Courses in Comparative Analysis, at least one must be from List A.

Comparative Analysis Requirement: The courses below provide a basis for critically comparing various forms of racial subordination throughout the history of American law and related forms of legal and social subordination along other axes of identity. The courses in List A foreground issues related to racial subordination and the courses in List B foreground subordination along other aspects of human identity.

Applied Courses (2 required, at least one from each list)

Applied Courses Requirement: The courses below provide a basis for applying the central themes in Critical Race Theory to specific areas of the law and to practical legal settings. The courses in “Doctrine” provide students with a sound grasp of the laws and policies that govern specific areas of practice. The courses listed in “Practice” are designed to expose students to the practical application of laws and policies to concrete social issues and actual legal settings.

CRS Writing Requirement

Students may use any of the courses listed above or any of the seminars listed below to fulfill the writing requirement.  However, the course or seminar may not be used to fulfill another specialization requirement at the same time.  In other words, there can be no double-counting of a single course to fulfill two requirements within the specialization.   The paper must be at least 35 pages long, double-spaced and related to a topic relevant to the specialization's course of study.The CRS paper can be used to fulfill the law school's writing requirement.

As an alternative to writing a paper within an approved course or seminar, students may enroll in a minimum of 3 units of Independent Research (Law 340) under the supervision of a UCLA faculty member and produce a paper that meets the same standards as stated above to fulfill this requirement.  This includes Law Review Comments written as part of Law 341.  For any independent research project to be considered for the CRS Writing Requirement, the student must submit a description of the writing project to the CRS Program Director beforehand, indicating how the project will engage race/racism or employ critical race scholarship or concepts in its analysis.  Use the  course planning form and follow the instructions under writing requirement - independent research. 
 

Approved Seminars for Fulfillment of the Writing Requirement

• Comparative Welfare States 508
• Community Law Practice 510
• Entertainment and Media Law 511
• Social Welfare 512 
• Cultural Property 514 
• Feminist Legal Philosophy 524A
• Tribal Law M528
• Youth and Justice 532
• Work, Citizenship, and the Welfare State 537
• Disability Rights 538
• Problem Solving in the Public Interest 541
• Race-conscious Remedies 545B
• Legal Education 548 
• Islamic Law and Human Rights 549
• Race, Surveillance and Punishment 553C
• Race, Law and Representation 553D
• Law and Social Change 555
• Animal Law and Theory 556 
• Feminist Legal Theory 555B
• Political Crimes and Legal Systems 558 
• Latinos and the Law 561
• American Constitutional History 565 
• CRS Writing Workshop 567
• Human Rights and Sexual Politics 584
• Sexual Orientation Seminar 592
• Laws of War and War(s) on Terror 566   
• Trafficking and Human Rights 577 

Enrolling in the CRS Specialization - First Year Students

To enroll in the CRS Specialization, you must fill out an election form and submit a brief statement of interest.

If you are a first year student who wrote a CRS statement as part of your application to UCLA School of Law, you have first priority to declare the CRS Specialization.  You do not have to write a new statement, but you must submit the election form at any time during the Fall semester of your first year.

In the Spring Semester, we will accept election forms, on a time-stamped basis, from any first year student.  (If you are a student who had first priority and opted to wait until the Spring semester to declare the specialization, your application will be time-stamped as part of the general pool of applicants).  The timing of submission will be used in case of over-enrollment in CRS core courses, with students enrolling first, getting first enrollment priority. 

The CRS election form and essay will only be accepted by email and must be sent to crs@law.ucla.edu  The deadline for electing is July 1st after your first year.  (We will consider late enrollments, but cannot guarantee priority enrollment in the core courses to students who elect the CRS Specialization after July 1st).

To learn more about enrollment procedures, course sequencing, and priority enrollment, refer to our FAQ.

Course Planning - Second and Third Year Students

It is important that you plan your schedule with some anticipation of your plans over the last two years at UCLA School of Law.  The core courses are required and cannot be replaced by any other course under any circumstances.  If you anticipate any changes that may impact your course selection, you should set an appointment time with the CRS Program Director as soon as possible.  We encourage you to use the course planning form to plan your progress in the specialization.

CRS professors often consider whether students have officially elected the CRS Specialization and are making progress towards certification in selecting students for CRS seminars or for research assitantships. Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, second and third year students are required to submit the course planning form at the end of the Fall semester indicating progress in the Specialization.  These forms will only be accepted by email to crs@law.ucla.edu and should be submitted after you have enrolled in classes for the Spring semester and before December 31st. 

Certification of Completion of the CRS Requirements - Third Year Students

If you would like to be listed as a candidate for certification in Critical Race Studies on the commencement program, you should submit a course planning sheet as described above.

To ensure that the CRS Specialization appears on your law school diploma, the Records office will confirm grades in the courses you reported on your course planning sheet.

You must also submit a pdf copy of your final paper in fulfillment of the CRS Writing Requirement and the  CRS Writing Requirement form to crs@law.ucla.edu 

You will receive an email confirmation once you have submitted all the requirements for listing in the commencement program and for CRS certification on your diploma.

Notes:

1. Please refer to the Schedule of Classes to determine which of the courses listed above will be offered during the current school year.

2. The course requirements list is reviewed and updated on a periodic basis by the CRS Faculty.  You are required to complete the requirements as they were published when you elected into the specialization.  However, you may petition to have a course meet certain requirements, when changes have been made after you elect into the specialization.

3.  In limited instances, the CRS faculty directors will consider a student’s petition to have a course not listed on the requirements page count towards certification.  You should send an email to the program director and cc the faculty director, citing the language of the requirement on this page, describing how the course meets the requirement, and attaching course syllabi or relevant materials. We will typically respond to your email petition within 3 working days.

Updated:  July 23, 2009