Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Concentration in Pre-Law
 

A number of departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offer programs, both minors and majors, designed to serve students who intend to go to Law School.  By majoring in Liberal Studies, students can combine the best of these into one cohesive program.  The suggestions below combine the minors in History, Philosophy and Political Science with most of the English (major) Concentration in Pre-Law.

Overview

General Education Requirements (GenEd) jump to the details
Area	Credits Required	Pre-Law Suggestion
Social Sciences	9	HIS 227, 4 credits PSC 111, 4 credits One Other Course
Fine Arts & Humanities	9	ENG 240, 4 credits ENG 241, 4 credits A History Course
Natural Sciences	8	Anatomy & Physiology BIO 266 & 267, 4 (3+1) credits BIO 268 & 269, 4 (3+1) credits Environmental Science EVS 206, 4 credits ENV 259, 4 credits Or a personal interest
Mathematics & Logic	6	PHL 131, 4 credits MTH 119 or MTH 147, 4 credits
Other GenEd		Student's Choice
Liberal Studies Requirements Beyond GenEd jump to the details
Social Sciences	16	Political Science
Fine Arts & Humanities	16	English, History, and Philosophy
Natural Sciences, Mathematics, & Logic	16	Logic plus Anatomy & Physiology Environmental Science Statistics A personal interest
Free Electives	18	More English, History, and Philosophy
Liberal Studies Total	66

back to top

Details
A Liberal Studies Major with a Concentration in Pre-Law

1. Social Sciences (Liberal Studies requires 16 credits beyond GenEd)

Political Science Minor in Law and Theory

PSC 111 (take as part of GenEd Social Science Requirement)

Two of:

PSC 310 Constitutional Law, 4 credits

PSC 311 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, 4 credits

PSC 340 Foundations of Political Thought, 4 credits

PSC 341 Modern Political Thought, 4 credits

PSC 342 American Political Thought, 4 credits

Plus:

PSC 423 Seminar in Legal and Political Theory, 5 credits

Since PSC 111 is listed among the GenEd Social Science pre-law suggestions, only 13 credits are needed to insert a Political Science Minor into a Liberal Studies Program.  The remaining 3 are provided by the balance from the third GenEd Social Science course.  That is, taking PSC 111 as part of GenEd, and taking PSC 423 along with two of PSC 310, 311, 340, 341, or 342, incorporates the pre-law minor in Political Science as part of a major in Liberal Studies.

back to top

2. Arts and Humanities (Liberal Studies requires 16 credits beyond GenEd)

English (Major with a) Concentration in Pre-Law

Introductory courses:

ENG 240 (take as part of GenEd Humanities Requirement)

ENG 241 (take as part of GenEd Humanities Requirement)

One Grammar or Linguistics course:

ENG 310 Traditional Grammar, 4 credits

ENG 311 Elements of Linguistics, 4 credits

One Critical Theory or Rhetoric course:

ENG 302 Rhetoric of the Law, 4 credits

ENG 360 Studies in Literary Criticism, 4 credits

ENG 361 Classical Rhetoric, 4 credits

ENG 382 Canonicity, 4 credits

Electives: 14 credits in courses numbered ENG 300 and above

Senior seminar: ENG 495 (4 credits)

Since the introductory courses are taken as part of GenEd, the Concentration consists of 26 credits.  However, no more than 18 credits from any one department may count towards a Liberal Studies major. So, the full English Concentration in Pre-Law cannot be inserted into a Liberal Studies Program.  Liberal Studies majors are advised to chose among the suggestions according to their interests or even to combine Liberal Studies with a second major in English.

History Minor

A minor in history consists of 20 credits in history, of which at least 12 must be earned at the 300 level or above.  Since 8 credits in History are listed among the GenEd Humanities pre-law suggestions, only 12 at the 300/400 level are needed to insert a History Minor into a Liberal Studies Program.

Philosophy Minor

A minor in philosophy consists of 16 credit hours selected from courses eligible to count for the major.  That is from among

The Core:

PHL 131 (take as part of GenEd Math Requirement) or
PHL 332 (take as part of Liberal Studies Math Requirement)

PHL 261 Ancient Philosophy

PHL 262 Medieval Philosophy

PHL 263 Early Modern Philosophy

Electives: 16 credits, no more than 4 credits below the 300 level.

Since PHL 131 is listed among the GenEd Math pre-law suggestions, only 12 credits are needed to insert a Philosophy Minor into a Liberal Studies Program.  Only 8 are needed if PHL 332 is taken as part of the Liberal Studies Math requirement.

That is, by carefully choosing courses from among those listed for English, History and Philosophy, a Liberal Studies major can combine several strong pre-law minors into a comprehensive pre-law major.

back to top

3. Natural Sciences/Logic/Mathematics (Liberal Studies requires 16 credits beyond GenEd)

PHL 332 Deductive Logic II

See the Liberal Studies Course Planner for additional choices.

4. Free Electives, 18 credits beyond GenEd

Fill out the major by choosing 18 credits from among the Liberal Studies suggestions for Arts and Humanities.

back to top

GenEd Pre-Law Suggestions

1. Mathematics and Logic, 6 credits

PHL 131, Deductive Logic I, 4 credits

Plus one other course from the GenEd Math/Logic list.  A course in statistics, such as MTH 119 or MTH 147, is highly recommended. Two credits of this choice complete the GenEd Math/Logic Requirement and the remaining, if any, count towards the Liberal Studies Natural Science/Math/Logic Requirement.

2. Arts and Humanities, 9 credits

ENG 240, Introduction to Poetry, 4 credits

ENG 241, Introduction to Fiction and Drama, 4 credits

Plus one course in History from the GenEd History list:

HIS 101, Western Civilization I

HIS 102, Western Civilization II

HIS 110, U.S. History Survey

HIS 111, United States History to 1877

HIS 112, United States History Since 1877

HIS 165, Introduction to Latin American History

HIS 175, Introduction to African History

HIS 185 , Survey of Middle Eastern History

HIS 201H, Urban America in the Last Half of the 20th Century: Crises/Opportunities/Solutions--Cleveland

HIS 215, History of African-Americans to 1877

HIS 216, History of African-Americans Since 1877

HIS 272H, Cultural Interactions: The Japanese Experience

HIS 284, History of Women

This gives a total of 12 credits.  Nine credits complete the GenEd Social Science Requirement. The remaining 3 count towards the Liberal Studies major.

3. Social Sciences, 9 credits in two fields

HIS 227, Power, Authority, and Society in Nonwestern Communities, 4 credits

PSC 111, American Government, 4 credits

Plus one other course, for 4 credits, from the GenEd Social Science list.  One credit of this choice completes the GenEd Social Science Requirement and the remaining 3 the Liberal Studies Social Science Requirement.

4. The other GenEd requirements are fulfilled according to the choices of the Liberal Studies student.

back to top