Program Requirements
Legal Studies Major Requirements
The major consists of 33 credit hours (11 courses).
| Required courses | (21) | |
| POSC 210 | P3 Law, Politics, and Society | |
| POSC 212 | Legal Research and Analysis | |
| PHIL 260C | P3 The Philosophy of Law | |
| ECON 250 | Law and Economics | |
| ENGL 271 | Introduction to Legal Writing | |
| Choose one: | POSC 332 Con Law I: Government Powers | |
| POSC 333 Con Law II: Civil Liberties – Civil Rights | ||
| POSC 495 | Internship* | |
| Electives | (12) | |
| Four electives chosen from the list below. At least one of which must at the 300 level or above. |
||
| Total | (33) | |
Note: Course substitutions for the Legal Studies major can be made only after consultation with and approval of the Department Chairman of Political Science & Legal Studies. No course used to satisfy required or elective credit in the second major may be used for credit in Legal Studies unless approved by the Department Chairman.
For students majoring in Legal Studies, the 7 required courses and all elective courses which may be applied to the major are included in the determination of the grade point average in the major.
Electives
Course descriptions may be found under the associated disciplines.
| ANTH 226 | P2 Anthropology of Law |
| COMM 346 | Media Law |
| ENGL 306 | Law & Literature |
| POSC 217 | The American Jury |
| POSC 252 | Theories of Law |
| POSC 254 | Criminal Courts and Trials |
| POSC 255 | Issues in Lawyering |
| POSC 267 | P3 Foundations of U.S. Law |
| POSC 292 | P2 American Political Thought |
| POSC 326 | Judicial Process |
| POSC 328 | New York State Civil Procedures |
| POSC 332 | Constitutional Law I: Government Powers |
| POSC 333 | Constitutional Law II: Civil Liberties – Civil Rights |
| POSC 334 | Constitutional Meaning |
| PSYC 164 | P3 The Legal Mind |
| SPST 240 | Sport Law |
| STAT 160 | P4 Data Analysis for Social Research |
Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes
Goal #1 Students will demonstrate subject matter competency to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level.
- Demonstrates learning of facts and terms.
- Demonstrates learning of concepts and theories.
- Demonstrates an understanding of different perspectives.
- Demonstrates a capacity to synthesize and integrate information and ideas.
- Demonstrate a capacity to rad and comprehend course relevant discipline based literature.
Goal #2 Students will demonstrate an ability in critical thinking to a degree and in a manner appropriate to the course level (and all the outcomes associated with Goal 1).
- Identify the arguments and conclusions in the work(s) under study.
- Student is able to contextualize the argument to debates in the discipline.
- Provide a cogent critique of the conclusions in the work(s) under study.
Goal #3 Students will demonstrate an ability in analytical thinking to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (and in all the outcomes associated with Goals 1 & 2).
- Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented fits into the larger literature.
- Identify how the work (e.g., scholarly work or student project) presented contributes to the development of the literature.
- Ability to collect and synthesize information.
- Ability to view a problem from a variety of perspectives and to propose several alternative answers to this problem.
- Ability to gauge alternative answers by analyzing their internal logic or by analyzing relevant empirical evidence.
Goal #4 Students will demonstrate an ability to employ and understand social science research methods to a degree in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with Goals 1, 2 & 3).
- Explain the methodologies, i.e., how the scholarship progressed from argument to conclusion.
- Demonstrate the ability to identify and use appropriate types of data in the methodology.
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of various methods.
Goal #5 Student will demonstrate professional skills to a degree and in the manner appropriate to the course level (in addition to the outcomes associated with Goals 1, 2, 3 &4).
- Written work follows the rules of conventional English and the norms of the discipline.
- Student is capable of making an effective oral presentation.
- Student is capable of making an effective argument.
- Student demonstrates the ability to advance an original argument that is supported by evidence.
Goal #6 Students will demonstrate “workplace readiness” in experiential learning opportunities, e.g. internship simulations at a level appropriate for juniors and seniors.
- Dependability
- Respect for others
- Work productively with others
- Follow directions, instructions, and plans
- Speaking skills
- Writing skills