Interdisciplinary Concentration in Law and Society

The interdisciplinary concentration in Law and Society would be attractive to students exploring the possibility of going to law school, but also to students interested in law, but not intending to pursue a legal education. The Logic/Critical Thinking component of the concentration will be particularly useful to students planning to attend law school because it should help them negotiate the Law School Aptitude Test. But this component is also generally useful to students in developing the reasoning and analytical skills essential to writing clearly and speaking persuasively. The humanities perspectives provide the ethical and philosophical foundation for the study of law, while the social perspectives allow students to view law in historical, social and economic context.   Finally, the law courses give students an opportunity to examine one or more substantive areas of the law. Taken together, the four main components of the Law and Society concentration form a coherent approach to the study of law, and will provide students with an interesting, integrated Liberal Learning experience.

Faculty Sponsors

Daryl R. Fair (Political Science), Henry F. Fradella(Criminology & Justice Studies), Nancy Lasher (Business), Kevin Michels (Business), Susanna Monseau (Business), Melinda Roberts (Philosophy), Christopher Totten(Criminology and Justice Studies)

Curriculum

Arts and Humanities

Choose 3 courses from the following

Logic/Critical Thinking Requirement

Any one of the following

• PHL 120/Introduction to Logic*
• PHL 220/Metalogic (prerequisite PHL120 or permission of instructor)
• LWJ 301/Foundations of Reasoning and Advocacy

 

Humanities Perspectives on Law

Any two of the following

• An appropriate First Seminar*
• MGT 385/Business Ethics & Corporate Responsibility (prerequisite at least sophomore standing)
• PHL 255/Biomedical Ethics (prerequisite one course in philosophy or permission of instructor)
• PHL 275/Philosophy of Law (prerequisite one course in philosophy or permission of instructor)
• PHL 375/Law and Ethics (prerequisite one course in philosophy)
• PHL 240/Political Philosophy (prerequisite one course in philosophy), or POL 270/Western Political Philosophy*

Social Sciences and History

Choose a total of 3 courses from the following

Social Perspectives on Law

Either one or two of the following

• An appropriate First Seminar*
• HIS 365/Topics in North American and United States History* (when the topic is Origins of the U.S. Constitution); cross listed as POL 365*
• LWJ 201/Courts and the Judicial Process (prerequisite LWJ 100)
• LWJ 225/Legal Problems in the Domestic Setting*
• POL 323/Law and Society*
• ECO 365/Economics of the Law (prerequisite ECO 101)
• INT 300/Human Rights in International Relations*; cross listed as POL 345*

Law Courses

Either one or two of the following options taken outside of the student's major department

• POL 320/Constitutional Law*
• POL 321/Civil Liberties*
• POL 337/International Law*
• LWJ 300/Crimes and Offenses (prerequisites LWJ 100 and 203)
• LWJ 203/Applied Criminal Procedure (prerequisite LWJ 100)
• BUS 200/The Regulatory Environment for Business Law and Policy*
• BUS 223/Law for Business Organizations (prerequisite BUS 200)
• BUS 300/Law for Business (prerequisite BUS 200)
• BUS 322/Topics in BUsiness Law (e.g. Securities Regulations) (prerequisite BUS 200)
• BUS 325/Employment Law (prerequisite BUS 200)
• BUS 360/International Business Law*

*Courses without prerequisites.

In addition to courses required by this concentration, a student must complete one approved course in laboratory science to satisfy breadth requirements in liberal learning. Students must also complte the civic responsibilities requirement (community engaged learning, gender, global, race and ethnicity). They should consult their major or open option advisors about how best to complete these liberal learning requirements.