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Department of Law and Legal Studies

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Summer Office Hours Update

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Christiane Wilke teaches course in Vienna

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2026 Convocation Recap

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Ash De Visser awarded Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Law is not just for lawyers. Laws and legal actors shape and impact our lives everyday! Laws can protect our freedoms, but may also impose limits on our actions and opportunities. Laws can protect us, or confine and oppress us. Laws can help us address fundamental challenges we face as a society, or impose obstacles in our attempts to deal with these challenges. How will you address today’s legal and social challenges?

Legal Studies strives to understand the nature and impact of law, legal actors and institutions integrating questions and methods drawn from a number of different disciplinary fields including communications, criminology, cultural studies, history, law, legal anthropology, political economy, political theory, and sociology. Legal Studies focuses on the complex nature of the interaction between law and other social fields to foster inquiry into and understanding of the dynamics of law, including its rules, agents, institutions and power structures.

Come be a part of the biggest and most vibrant centre for interdisciplinary Legal Studies research and teaching in North America! No other university in North America has as many full-time professors engaged in researching and teaching in the field of Legal Studies. Our department has more than 35 full-time professors, including award-winning researchers and teachers, who engage in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research in a number of fields. Many courses in our department are taught by practitioners, including lawyers working in private practice, government departments and non-governmental organizations.

We offer a variety of activities outside the classroom. Our department hosts a wide range of academic and networking events that include speakers from around the world. Our student association also organizes a number of activities, including social events and the annual Capital Cup Mooting competition. And don’t forget the benefits of our capital advantage!

Learn more about our award-winning students.

Undergraduate Programs

We offer a choice of four undergraduate degree programs, over 75 courses in law, co-op options, internship courses and access to research and study opportunities unique to Carleton University and Canada’s capital city

MA Program in Legal Studies

The MA program is organized around the theme of law and social transformation, fostering a rigorous and critical understanding of law and relations of governance.

PhD Program in Legal Studies

The PhD program in Legal Studies is designed for students with advanced research interests in the interdisciplinary study of law and is suitable for those seeking academic jobs and policy and analysis work.

Why choose a BA in Law?

Steve Tasson, Undergraduate Supervisor
Hear Professor Steve Tasson explain how adding a concentration to your degree may be beneficial!

Cole Labelle, Undergraduate Administrator
Hear our undergraduate administrator, Cole Labelle, talk about his role during your BA journey.

The Department of Law and Legal Studies offers Canada’s premier programs for the interdisciplinary study of the law and beyond. These innovative programs explore the dynamic interaction between law and society nationally, transnationally and internationally.

Located in the national capital, on unceded Algonquin territory, we are Canada’s oldest and largest undergraduate program in Legal Studies, and the first University in Canada to offer a MA in Legal Studies and the second to offer a PhD. Learn more about our history.

Hear more about our many areas of research amongst our faculty!

Our teaching staff possess a number of research area strengths. A full list of subject areas can be found here: Faculty Research Areas.

Sep 12

Unsafe: The Carceral Roots of the Anti-Trans Backlash

  • 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM
  • Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre , Ottawa , ON

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