Legal Studies

This course will introduce students to ideas about institutional structures, political actors, and constitutional debates in U.S. government and politics. We will explore the historical development and founding of the United States, discuss major debates about the structure of our republican form of government, connect the three branches of government to contemporary politics and elections, examine the role of race and gender in American politics, and critique the American constitutional system.

In this course students will examine the organization, functioning, and impact of courts in the United States. Attention will be paid to the role of lawyers in the judicial system, trial and appellate court procedures, selection of judges, and the relationship of courts to other elements of the U.S. political system. Topics will include the nature of law, the role of juries, plea bargaining, alternative conflict resolution, court workload, and proposals for reform.
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1000FYW United States Government and Politics.
(Normally offered alternate years.)

Logic offers the study and application of the four integrated systems of formal logic: categorical, propositional, symbolic, and predicate logic. Study of these systems provides in-depth analysis of deductive reasoning and arguments. You will learn how to quantify ordinary language statements, analyze their component logical functions, evaluate and construct deductive arguments, classify premises and conclusions, test for truth value, prove the validity of arguments, test and provide for missing premises, and apply the skills and methods of formal logic to complex arguments.

An introduction to the law, the courts, torts and contracts. It will also explore the law's application to business. This is a required course for Business Administration and Accounting majors.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing or permission of the instructor.
(Normally offered each semester.)

A survey of the application of the law to business entities, with an emphasis on business formation, negotiable instruments and other legal matters. The course is designed to meet the needs of accounting students, prelaw students and students planning on attending graduate school. The course does not satisfy the Business Law requirement for Business Administration majors.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing or permission of the instructor.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)

Survey of criminal law with emphasis on basic legal procedure developed by the courts and legal problems of law enforcement.
Prerequisite(s): CRMJS 1010 Introduction to Criminal Justice.
(Normally offered alternate years.)

This course allows students to participate at a meaningful level in an internship with a public official, political figure, public agency, campaign or interest group and to use that experience as the basis for an academic paper.
Pass/Fail only.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the department chair.

An advanced course focusing on an examination of the basic principles of U.S. constitutional law, based on study of U.S. Supreme Court cases. Trends in interpretation of the Constitution and the role of Supreme Court decisions in U.S. politics will be stressed.
Prerequisite(s): POLSC 1000FYW United States Government and Politics and junior standing or permission of the instructor.

This course is an introduction to using the sociological perspective as a method of social inquiry. Students explore such basic concepts as culture, socialization, social structure, social interaction, and social change. They study and apply the theories and research methodologies used to investigate human social interaction. These concepts are applied to social topics such as race, class, gender, family, crime, population, environment, and others.
(Normally offered each semester.)