Legal Studies (6001)
- Undergraduate
- AB
- Arts & Letters
- History
Overview
The Legal Studies program consists of 18 hours of core courses in Political Science, History, and Professional Legal Studies (including a capstone experience), and 18 hours of electives from many disciplines across Western Kentucky University. A second major, minor, or certificate is required.
The program provides students an interdisciplinary perspective while fostering greater understanding of the law as it relates to history, the sciences, and ethics in the United States and around the world. While the program appeals to pre-law students, it also serves as a background for a wide variety of careers, including public administration, academics, government, diplomatic corps, homeland security, non-governmental organizations, and law enforcement.
Legal Studies allows students from many disciplines to focus their studies using their individual disciplinary interests as a launching point for exploring how the study of law cuts across disciplinary lines. It offers courses in a wide range of subjects, including American legal history, political process, constitutional law, philosophy and ethics, sociology and criminal justice, business, journalism and broadcasting, economics and property law, English, and environmental law and regulations.
The Legal Studies program does not prepare students to work as paralegals and is not approved by the ABA to do so.
Program Requirements (36 hours)
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Program Core Courses | ||
| PS 220 | Judicial Process | 3 |
| PLS 250 | Legal Research and Writing I | 3 |
| PS 326 | Constitutional Law | 3 |
| HIST 445 | American Legal History to 1865 | 3 |
| HIST 446 | American Legal History Since 1865 | 3 |
| LS 495 | Senior Seminar in Legal Studies | 3 |
| Required Ethics course (choose one) | 3 | |
SMC 301 | Mass Communication Law and Ethics | |
PLS 200 | Legal Ethics | |
PHIL 350 | Ethical Theory | |
PS 338 | Government and Ethics | |
| Required International/Comparative Elective course (choose one): | 3 | |
PS 355 | International Organization and Law | |
PLS 375 | Comparative Legal Systems | |
HIST 380 | Human Rights in History | |
CRIM 430 | Comparative Systems of Juvenile Justice | |
CRIM 448 | International Justice and Crime | |
GEOG 487 | Environmental Management and Law | |
| Required Business Elective (choose one): | 3 | |
MGT 200 | Legal Environment of Business | |
PLS 283 | Property Law | |
MGT 301 | Business Law | |
ECON 390 | Economics, Law, and Public Choice | |
PLS 392 | Corporate Law | |
ECON 434 | The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination | |
| Required Law and Justice Elective (choose one): | 3 | |
PLS 324 | Women and the Law | |
PS 328 | Criminal Justice Procedures | |
CRIM 330 | Criminology | |
CRIM 361 | Race, Class, and Crime | |
CRIM 432 | Sociology of Criminal Law | |
CRIM 446 | Gender, Crime, and Justice | |
PSY 470 | Psychology and Law | |
| Unrestricted Electives (6 hours needed from at least two disciplines. | 6 | |
SMC 301 | Mass Communication Law and Ethics | |
CRIM 330 | Criminology | |
CRIM 332 | Juvenile Delinquency | |
CRIM 361 | Race, Class, and Crime | |
CRIM 430 | Comparative Systems of Juvenile Justice | |
CRIM 432 | Sociology of Criminal Law | |
CRIM 446 | Gender, Crime, and Justice | |
CRIM 448 | International Justice and Crime | |
ECON 390 | Economics, Law, and Public Choice | |
ECON 434 | The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination | |
ENG 301 | Argument and Analysis in Written Discourse | |
ENG 412 | Theories of Rhetoric and Persuasive Writing | |
GEOG 487 | Environmental Management and Law | |
HIST 380 | Human Rights in History | |
HIST 430 | History of the Civil Rights Movement in America | |
LS 498 | Internship in Legal Studies | |
MGT 200 | Legal Environment of Business | |
MGT 301 | Business Law | |
MGT 400 | Employment Law | |
PHIL 215 | Symbolic Logic | |
PHIL 323 | Social Ethics | |
PHIL 350 | Ethical Theory | |
PHIL 427 | Philosophy of Law | |
PLS 200 | Legal Ethics | |
PLS 283 | Property Law | |
PLS 324 | Women and the Law | |
PLS 375 | Comparative Legal Systems | |
PLS 392 | Corporate Law | |
PLS 499 | Internship in Paralegal Studies | |
PSY 470 | Psychology and Law | |
PS 311 | Public Policy | |
PS 327 | Civil Liberties | |
PS 328 | Criminal Justice Procedures | |
PS 338 | Government and Ethics | |
PS 355 | International Organization and Law | |
| Total Hours | 36 | |
Finish in Four Plans
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENG 100 | 3 | HIST 101 or HIST 102 | 3 |
| Colonnade: Quantitative Reasoning | 3 | COMM 145 | 3 |
| Colonnade: Natural & Physical Sciences with Lab | 3 | PS 220 | 3 |
| Colonnade: Social and Behavioral Studies | 3 | World Language (if needed) or General Elective | 3 |
| Colonnade: Arts & Humanities | 3 | Colonnade: Literary Studies | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| HIST 445 | 3 | HIST 446 | 3 |
| PLS 250 | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| Colonnade - Natural & Physical Sciences | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| World Language II (if needed) or General Elective | 3 | Connections - Systems or Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course (PS 220 Recommended) | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Connections - Local to Global | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| PS 326 | 3 | Required Legal Studies Elective | 3 |
| Connections - Social and Cultural | 3 | ENG 300 or COMM 200 | 3 |
| Required Legal Studies Elective | 3 | Required Legal Studies Elective | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| Required Legal Studies Elective | 3 | LS 495 | 3 |
| Unrestricted Legal Studies Elective | 3 | Unrestricted Legal Studies Elective | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 | Second Major, Minor, or General Elective Course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Hours 120 | |||