Legal Studies Minor

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College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences > Department of Political Science > Legal Studies Minor

Legal Studies is a minor in the Political Science department that provides academic preparation for students interested in law school.

Many undergraduate students are interested in attending Law School, but are intimidated by stories they hear about the LSATs and the first year of Law School. The Legal Studies Minor will provide students with a strong background in the law to better prepare them for Law School. The minor emphasizes courses in logical reasoning, reading comprehension, communication, and analytical writing, taught by a variety of instructors in Political Science, Philosophy, Sociology, and other departments.

At the same time, the Legal Studies Minor is not a pre-professional degree. Instead, the minor approaches the study of law through a broad historical and theoretical perspective on legal structures. The minor therefore emphasizes courses in Political Theory, Economics, and History in order to cultivate legal insight, creativity, and thoughtfulness.

Minor in Legal Studies (18 hours)

Requirements:

Students complete a Legal Studies Minor by completing a minimum of eighteen hours in approved courses with a minimum of 12 of the 18 hours taken in residence, and at least nine hours in advanced courses, 6 of which must be in residence.
Students must take at least one course from the “Analytical Reasoning” category.
Students must take at least one course from the “Communications” category.
Students must take at least one course from the “Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on the Law” category.
Students must take at least three courses from the “Legal Issues and Policies” category.
Students must maintain a GPA of 2.5 or better in their minor courses.
A student may not use more than six hours of work in the Legal Studies Minor to satisfy requirements for a major field and/or any other minor, although those six hours may be shared. Four of the six courses must come from outside the student’s major field of study.
Although a course may be listed in more than one category for the minor, it can only be used to fulfill the requirements in one of those areas. Therefore, a course can not be used to meet the requirements in multiple categories.

Analytical Reasoning (Select 1)

PHIL 1321 - Logic I Credit Hours: 3
PHIL 2321 - Logic II Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3350 - Ethics Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3351 - Contemporary Moral Issues Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3355 - Political Philosophy Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3357 - Punishment Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3358 - Classics in the History of Ethics Credit Hours: 3.0
PHIL 3375 - Law, Society, and Morality Credit Hours: 3.0
POLS 3310 - Introduction to Political Theory Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3342 - Liberalism and Its Critics Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3343 - Democratic Theory Credit Hours: 3

Communications (Select 1)

COMM 2356 - Business & Professional Communication Credit Hours: 3
COMM 3360 - Principles of Strategic Communication Credit Hours: 3
LST 3351 - Law in Literature and Film Credit Hours: 3
LST 4392 - Internship in Public Law Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3348 - Left, Right, and Center Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3361 - Politics and Literature Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3381 - Political Psychology Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3383 - Facilitating Political Deliberation Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3393 - Model United Nations Credit Hours: 3
SPAN 3307 - Public Speaking in Spanish Credit Hours: 3.0
Students may also use former UH course COMM 1332, transfer courses TCCNS SPCH 1315 (previously equivalent to former UH course COMM 1332), TCCNS SPCH 1321 or COMM 1FOS to satisfy this requirement.

Theoretical Perspectives on the Law (Select 1)

AAS 3354 - African Nationalist Thought and Ethics in the US Credit Hours: 3
COMM 4303 - Communication Law and Ethics Credit Hours: 3
HIST 4355 - Topics in the History of Law and Society Credit Hours: 3.0
POLS 3340 - Ancient and Medieval Political Thought Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3349 - Foundations in American Political Thought Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3350 - Public Law - Political Theory Credit Hours: 3
LST 3351 - Law in Literature and Film Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3368 - Race,Gender & Ethnic Politics Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3376 - Black Political Thought Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3378 - Political Economy Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3390 - Women in Politics Credit Hours: 3
POLS 4333 - Islam and Democracy Credit Hours: 3
POLS 4344 - Equal, Just & Democracy Credit Hours: 3
POLS 4348 - Contemporary Islamic Political Thought Credit Hours: 3.0
PSYC 3334 - Psychology & Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3300 - Introduction to Sociological Theory Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3311 - Sociology of Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3327 - Racial and Ethnic Relations Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3343 - Social Movements Credit Hours: 3
WGSS 3322 - Intersectionalities of Race, Class, Age, Disability & Gender Credit Hours: 3
WGSS 3350 - Gender, Society & Feminist Theory Credit Hours: 3

Legal Issues and Policies (Select 3)

AAS 3348 - African Americans and the Law Credit Hours: 3
AAS 3349 - African Americans, Politics and Legal Studies Credit Hours: 3
ECON 4321 - Economic Analysis of U.S. Legal System Credit Hours: 3.0
LST 3354 - Law and Society Credit Hours: 3
LST 3356 - Introduction to Constitutional Law Credit Hours: 3
LST 3357 - Constitutional Law - Civil Liberties Credit Hours: 3
LST 3359 - Criminal Justice Credit Hours: 3
LST 3385 - Introduction to Law Credit Hours: 3
LST 3386 - Criminal Law and the Criminal Justice System Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3318 - Intro To Public Policy Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3319 - Politics of Social Policy Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3344 - International Law and the Law of War Credit Hours: 3.0
POLS 3345 - National Security Law Credit Hours: 3.0
POLS 3346 - Human Rights Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3355 - Judicial Process Credit Hours: 3
POLS 3358 - Judicial Behavior Credit Hours: 3
POLS 4366 - Constitutional Design Credit Hours: 3
POLS 4397 - Sel Top-Pub Law&Pub Adm Credit Hours: 3
PSYC 3334 - Psychology & Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3311 - Sociology of Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 3313 - Criminology Credit Hours: 3
Other courses accepted by petition and approval of program advisor.