Legal Studies Minor

Coordinator: Melinda Adams
Email: adams2mj@jmu.edu
Phone: (540) 568-3377
Legal Studies Minor Website

Program Description

An understanding of law is vital to an understanding of political, social and economic life and is an important element in becoming an "educated and enlightened citizen." The minor in legal studies offers an interdisciplinary program of study that will give students the opportunity to examine law from a variety of perspectives. The minor in legal studies is not a program in pre-professional legal training; it is designed to serve pre-law students at JMU as well as students who are interested in careers in government, health, technology, business or the non-profit sector. The minor focuses broadly on the skills needed to study the law (logical and ethical reasoning, critical thinking, strong writing, and close reading) as well as the philosophy, praxis and applications of the law writ large. As such, it can serve as a strong complement to many major fields of study or as an area of interest to those who think they may want to pursue law school or a legal career.

Program Goals

To develop students' critical thinking, communication, and analytical skills
To introduce students to an interdisciplinary study of law from a variety of perspectives
To expand and enrich students' understanding of law and the multiple functions it plays in our national (and global) society

Minor Requirements

No more than nine credit hours (three courses) may be taken from a single discipline. Students should check with their major advisors regarding the ability to double count courses between the Legal Studies Minor and their major(s).

Course List
Code	Title	Credits
Required Core Course
PHIL 250	Introduction to Symbolic Logic	3
or PHIL 315	Logic and Legal Reasoning
Subtotal		3
Electives
Choose five of the following: ¹		15
CRJU 337	Courts and the Judiciary
ENG 221	Literature and Ideas [C2L] (when topic is Law and Vengeance)
ENG 302	Special Topics in Literature and Language (when topic is Literature and Law)
LING 430	Forensic Linguistics: Language and the Law
HIST 339	Selected Themes in U.S. History (when topic appropriate)
HIST 341	Selected Themes in World History (when topic appropriate)
JUST 300	Perspectives on Comparative Justice
JUST 301	Advanced Level Special Topics in Justice Studies (when topic is Law and Society)
JUST 323	Comparative Criminal Justice
JUST 327	Criminal Law
JUST 329	Perspectives on Law
JUST 386	Sexual Orientation, Law and Justice
JUST 397	Legal Research and Information Literacy
PHIL 250	Introduction to Symbolic Logic
PHIL 262	Problems in Applied Ethics
PHIL 267	Philosophy of Law
PHIL 300	Knowledge and Belief
PHIL 310	Symbolic Logic
PHIL 315	Logic and Legal Reasoning
PHIL 330	Moral Theory
PHIL 335	The Individual, The State and Justice
POSC 325	Constitutional Law
POSC 326	Civil Rights
POSC 386	The U.S. Judiciary
POSC 387	The Appellate Process and Practice
REL 383	The Global Refugee Crisis and Religion
SCOM 342	Argument and Advocacy
SCOM 346	Free Speech in America
SMAD 330	New Media Law (limited seat availability for minors) ²
SMAD 370	Mass Communication Law (limited seat availability for minors) ²
SMAD 450	Law of Media Arts and Design (limited seat availability for minors) ²
WRTC 301	Language, Law and Ethics
WRTC 460	Legal Writing
Subtotal		15
Total Credits		18

¹

Students may select no more than two PHIL courses (six credit hours) to fulfill the elective requirement.

Other courses outside of this list may be counted towards the minor with the approval of the minor coordinator(s). A maximum of two courses (six credit hours) can count in this way. Courses must be approved before the student enrolls.

²

SMAD 330 and SMAD 370 can count toward the Legal Studies minor with minor coordinator permission.