Curriculum

Students registered within the LLM program must complete graduate-level courses, a thesis, as well as ethics and professional development training to complete degree requirements.

Curriculum

Graduate-level Courses

Students enrolled in the LLM program must successfully complete graduate-level courses (9 credits) including LAW 696: Graduate Seminar (3 credits) and two additional graduate-level courses (6 credits)

Course selected is determined in consultation with the student's academic supervisor and the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies. Students may enrol in graduate-level courses offered by other academic departments at the University of Alberta with the written approval of the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, after consideration of the student's experience, needs and course availability.

LLM Thesis

Students are required to produce approximately 80 to 100 pages, or 24,000 to 33,000 words, exclusive of tables of cases or statutes and bibliography.. The thesis topic must be approved by the student's academic supervisor and the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies.

Ethics and Academic Citizenship Requirement

Starting in September 2021, new LLM students are required to complete the FGSR Ethics and Academic Citizenship Requirement for master's students. It is a six-hour, zero-credit, online course: INT D 710: Ethics and Academic Citizenship.

The course registration is in Beartracks. Once registered, students are added to eClass where they will complete the course material in a self-paced format. The course must be completed during the first semester of the student's program. Successful completion of the course will appear on the student's official transcript record. For further information on the mandatory Ethics and Academic Citizenship Requirement see here.

Professional Development Requirement

The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research requires students to complete eight hours of professional development (PD) activities that are inspired by a career plan document completed by the student called the Individual Development Plan (IDP). The IDP maps the student's career goals and competencies. The PD activities must: contribute to the acquisition of skills, knowledge or mindset; support the career goals or competencies identified in the IDP; comprise formal training or active learning with an assessment component; and fall outside or research methods training or the thesis.

For full details, see the FGSR PD web page.

Full-time LLM students must complete their IDP and have it reviewed by their supervisor within 12 months of the start of their program. The eight hours of PD activities must be approved by their supervisor and completed by the time of degree completion.

Program Length

The period required to complete the LLM degree can vary. Some students may wish to complete the program in one academic year, while others may wish to extend the length of their study. LLM students must complete the program requirements within four years.