The University of Wisconsin Law School is home to a thriving community of scholars and innovative legal thinkers. Central to UW Law’s intellectual life are numerous initiatives, programs, and centers, which support a diverse range of programming and scholarship.
Additionally, UW Law offers opportunities for scholarly engagement, from works-in-progress talks to ongoing speaker series featuring faculty from other law schools to student-planned symposia. UW Law also hosts academic conferences and biennial scholarly institutes.
Research Centers, Initiatives & Programs
State Democracy Research Initiative
The Initiative’s mission is to foster academic research on democracy, government institutions, and public law at the state level by shining a spotlight on the states, which traditionally receive less attention than the federal government in legal scholarship and education.
East Asian Legal Studies Center
EALSC supports faculty and student research on East Asian legal issues, including organizing talks and conferences, hosts visiting scholars, develops and maintains academic partnerships in East Asia, and promotes East Asian legal studies at the UW and beyond.
Institute for Legal Studies
ILS brings together faculty, fellows and students to support research and discussion on sociolegal topics. Activities include workshops and professional development for faculty; guest lectures, symposia and conference hosting; and fellowship administration.
Global Legal Studies Center
GLS promotes the understanding of international, transnational and comparative legal systems, processes and regimes by supporting research in international legal studies, organizing workshops and conferences, and expanding connections with scholars and institution.
Compliance Initiative Series
The Compliance Initiative Series aims to feature speakers who work in a compliance based setting, including compliance professionals from the University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Athletics, and private practice. The Compliance Initiative is supported by ILS and the George Young Bascom Professorship in Business Law.
Wisconsin Initiative on Law & Climate Change
WILCC seeks to respond to the legal challenges and social justice issues that come with climate change, by preparing law students for challenges posed by climate change and fostering related scholarship.
Human Rights Program
HRP seeks to create a cross-campus human rights program using the momentum created by the Human Rights Initiative and the administrative and coordinating capacity of GLS.
Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center
The Center's vision is to advance the Wisconsin Idea by connecting Law in Action to Native Nations and Native organizations throughout Wisconsin and the nation, and to indigenous peoples throughout the world.
Additional Resources
