The Psychology and Law Minor: Overview

The Minor allows students to get a broad grounding in Psychology and Law and at the same time tailor their program to their specific interests. Students obtaining a Minor in Psychology and Law from UIC must also complete the requirements for a Major in one of five Divisions in Psychology: Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Community and Prevention Research, Behavioral Neuroscience, or Clinical Psychology.

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about graduate study at the UIC
Department of Psychology

Click on one of the five major divisions:
Clinical Cognitive Social
Community & Prevention
Behavioral Neuroscience

Examples of Approved Psychology and Law Minors

All students take the core graduate course in Psychology and Law (PSCH 417) and the Psychology and Law Brown Bag Seminar (each semester) (PSCH 595). In addition, students take at least 2 other courses related to the Psychology and Law research the student conducts. These courses are usually, but not necessarily always, directly relevant to law; for example, a student who is interested in studying children's eyewitness testimony might take a course in cognitive development to help with her research. Courses may be taken in the Department of Psychology, in other UIC departments (e.g., Political Science; Criminology, Law, and Society), or at area law schools such as the University of Chicago Law School, or Chicago-Kent College of Law, where we have arranged for our students to attend classes.

Here are examples of coursework taken by students doing a Minor in Psychology and Law (in addition to departmental requirements for the major):

Example 1: Children, Psychology, & Law

Psychology 417	Psychology and Law
Psychology 518	Children, Psychology and Law
LAW 99401 (taken as PSCH 596)	Emotion & Law (University of Chicago Law School)
Psychology 549	Current Topics in Psychology and Law (Brown Bag)

Example 2: Legal Decision-Making

sychology 417	Psychology and Law
Psychology 518	Evaluating Experts
MHPE 494	Medical Decision Making
Criminal Justice 491	Victimization
Psychology 595	Psychology and Law Brown Bag

Examples of additional courses outside the Psychology Department that may be used to fulfill the requirements of the Minor (Psychology and Law Steering Committee must approve the student's proposal for completing the requirements of the Minor):

Criminal Justice 491	Legal Socialization
Criminal Justice 552	Dispute Processing
Health Management 431	Law and Public Health
Political Science 451	Law and Public Policy

Examples of Psychology and Law related courses (click on underlined titles to see examples of recent syllabi):

PSCH 417    Psychology and law
PSCH 595    Psychology and law brown bag
PSCH 518    Children and the law

Other departments at the University of Illinois at Chicago that may be of interest:

Department of Criminology, Law, and Society

Institute for Juvenile Research

Center for Research on Women and Gender

UIC Interdisciplinary Center for Researc on Violence

Department of
Political Science