For students passionate about studying the United States’ legal systems, the Kinder Institute’s spring Constitutional Litigation course explores constitutional law through the lens of the structure, history, and practice of the nation’s federal courts, and then provides students with an opportunity to see these systems in action through a Spring Break trip to DC.
In this three-credit hour spring seminar (CNST_DEM/POL_SC 4231), students take a hands-on approach to examining everything from the constitutional design of federal courts, to the process and constraints of constitutional litigation, to how the Supreme Court chooses its dockets and goes about deciding cases.
To complement their work in the classroom, Constitutional Litigation students spend three days over Spring Break in DC where, among other things, they tour the Department of Justice, meet with constitutional lawyers, and sit in on oral arguments at the US Supreme Court.
Undergraduates of any major with an interest in law are eligible to apply for the Constitutional Litigation course and, once accepted, will be issued a permission number to enroll. In addition, all participants can apply for need-based scholarships to help offset the additional course fees associated with the Spring Break trip.
Applications for the Spring 2027 Constitutional Litigation course will open and be posted here at the beginning of the Fall 2026 semester, with an anticipated deadline of late October.
