Law and Politics Minor
The Minor in Law and Politics features courses meant to serve students who are interested in the intersection of Political Science, law, and legal institutions. Students are required to take an Introductory Political Science course and the Introduction to Law course. After that students take at least one course in the three fields of: American Law, International Law, and an experiential learning course related to the legal field.
For inquiries, please contact Professor Amanda Savage (abryan2@luc.edu), director of the Minor in Law and Politics.
Curriculum
To graduate with a minor in Law and Politics, students must complete 18 hours of coursework (6 courses). Specifically, all minors must take:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| PLSC 385 | Introduction to Law 1 | 3 |
| Select one of the following: 1 | 3 | |
| Political Theory | ||
| American Politics | ||
| International Relations in an Age of Globalization | ||
| Comparative Politics | ||
| Select one upper-division course in EACH of the three focus areas: | 9 | |
| (1) American Legal System | ||
| Law and Civil Rights | ||
| Contemporary Political Issues: American Politics (Occasionally special topics courses in American politics will be focused on law and politics. When they are relevant to the minor, they will count in this category and be given the LWPL tag.) | ||
| Women, Law & Public Policy | ||
| Constitutional Law-Due Process | ||
| Constitutional Law-Powers of Government | ||
| Constitutional Law-Rights and Liberties | ||
| Hollywood and Law | ||
| Crime, Race & Violence | ||
| The Legislative Process | ||
| The Judicial Process | ||
| State Politics | ||
| (2) International Law | ||
| International Human Rights | ||
| Political Justice | ||
| Politics of Genocide | ||
| Global Justice | ||
| International Law | ||
| Intervent in World Politics | ||
| UN & International Organization | ||
| Model United Nations (Can fulfill EITHER Engaged Learning or International Law requirement ) | ||
| Roman Law | ||
| The Morality and Legality of War | ||
| (3) Law-related Engaged Learning Course | ||
| Mock Trial | ||
| Moot Court | ||
| Fieldwork in Political Science-Internship (DC Internship also eligible. Prior permission is required in both cases.) | ||
| Select one more upper-division course from one of the three focus areas. | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
- 1
This course is not a prerequisite and can be completed at any time.
Special Note for Political Science Majors: Students majoring political science may double-count the introductory (PLSC 100 Political Theory, PLSC 101 American Politics, PLSC 102 International Relations in an Age of Globalization, or PLSC 103 Comparative Politics) course from their political science major. However, the rest of the credit requirements for a Law and Politics minor are in addition to the requirements of a Political Science major.
Learning Outcomes
The Minor in Law and Politics is designed to achieve the following learning outcomes:
- Acquire a foundational understanding of the interactions between law and politic and be able to demonstrate a complex understanding of the political and legal processes and their impact on societies and individuals.
- By taking at least one course focusing on legal and political aspects of the American system, students will learn and demonstrate an understanding of differences of class, gender, and race in our legal and political system, with a view to fashioning a more humane and just society.
- By taking at least one course focusing on political and legal interactions in other nations, students will be expected to demonstrate an awareness that human values and behavior, ideas of justice, and methods of interpretation are influenced by culture and time.
- Through engaged learning courses, students will integrate learning through reflection, connecting and synthesizing disciplinary knowledge and out of classroom experiences to generate new understanding.
The program has a strong emphasis on engaged learning. This will allow students not just to read about legal and political causes and effects on the way societies function, but also to experience firsthand the intricacies of such interactions. Consequently, upon completion of the program, students are expected to develop a better understanding of themselves and their role in society and the world, beyond their aforementioned demonstrated social understanding.