Law and Society Minor
The Political Science department offers a law and Society minor which can be taken alongside any major at LVC. The minor is an interdisciplinary program that introduces students to the American legal system through a study of the United States Constitution and its normative and political context. The program is expected to be of particular use to those students who intend to apply to law school. An internship and a capstone seminar in legal foundations are required for this minor.
For more information, please contact Dr. Philip Benesch, the Director of the Law and Society Program, at prelaw@lvc.edu.
>>Return to Pre-Law Advising
Required courses:
PHL 120 Basic Logic| An introduction to the rules of clear and effective thinking. Attention is given to the logic of meaning, the logic of valid inference and the logic of factual inquiry. Main emphasis is upon deductive logic. Students are introduced to the elements of symbolic logic as well as to traditional modes of analysis. |
| This capstone seminar examines the historical and philosophical development of constitutional law in the United States; the seminar emphasizes the dynamic relationship between the law and moral and political philosophy. |
| This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with regard to civil rights and civil liberties. Students will examine the Court's rulings concerning the establishment and free exercise of religion, protection of freedom of speech and of the press, privacy rights (abortion and sexual freedom), the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system, and the law governing racial or sexual discrimination. The course places particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. |
| Field experience in a political science environment. |
| This capstone seminar examines the historical and philosophical development of constitutional law in the United States; the seminar emphasizes the dynamic relationship between the law and moral and political philosophy. |
One of:
BUS 371 Business Law I| Elementary principles of law relating to the field of business. The course covers contracts, government regulation of business, consumer protection, bankruptcy, personal property, real estate, bailments, insurance and estates. |
| This course will examine the legal and ethical issues arising from the information age. Topics such as copyright, patent, privacy, security, libel, liability, and government regulation will be explored. |
| This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with respect to the structure and functions of the constitutional system (judicial, legislative and executive power and federalism). There is a particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. |
| This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with respect to the structure and functions of the constitutional system (judicial, legislative and executive power and federalism). There is a particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. |
One of:
BUS 450 Business Ethics & Social Resp.| This course examines the major ethical issues, social responsibilities, and ethical dilemmas facing business and business managers in today's global environment. Students develop an understanding of the difference between what is legal and what is ethical and clarify their approach to ethical issues. |
| Karl Marx is among the most influential thinkers in the modern world, and the ideology of Marxism has helped shape the cultural, religious, economic, and political history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This course will examine Marx and Marxism(s) from an interdisciplinary perspective, first by exploring the life and word of Marx, and Marxist parties and movements, and then by examining the effects Marx's thinking has had on global politics, economic theory, religion, and philosophy. By examining the historical and philosophical roots and continuing significance of Marx and Marxism, students will have an occasion to practice a multidisciplinary study of a historical figure and movement and become better informed about intellectual and political history and how those continue to shape the world around us. |
| This multi-disciplinary seminar will consider the relationship in contemporary society between individual freedom and moral-political equality. To this end, students will study the main doctrines advanced in libertarian, classical liberal, modern liberal, and communitarian thought, and critically evaluate the various strengths and weaknesses of each approach. |
| Students in this course study the development of Western political thought from Classical Greece to modern times, examining the conceptual evolution of citizenship, civic obligation, and the nature of justice and exploring the connection between moral and positive law in the western tradition. |
| Students in this course study the development of Western political thought from Classical Greece to modern times, examining the conceptual evolution of citizenship, civic obligation, and the nature of justice and exploring the connection between moral and positive law in the western tradition. |