Dec 14, 2024

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalogue

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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalogue

Pre-Law Minor

The College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts offers a pre-law minor designed to prepare students with the foundational knowledge, critical thinking abilities, and other essential skills to succeed in the field of the law.

Requirements for a Pre-Law Minor

The minor requires 24 hours of course work, including 15 hours of core courses, 3 hours of applied or skills-based courses, and 6 hours of other related courses in the legal field.

Core Courses (15 hours)

PLS 101 - American National Government Credit Hours: 3
PLS 300 - American Constitutional Law I Credit Hours: 3
PLS 301 - American Constitutional Law II Credit Hours: 3
PLS 305 - The Constitution and the Criminal Justice System Credit Hours: 3
PLS 310 - Legal Philosophy and Jurisprudence Credit Hours: 3

Skills Courses (3 hours)

ACG 201 - Financial Accounting Credit Hours: 3
COM 101 - Public Speaking Credit Hours: 3
COM 223 - Mediation and Conflict Management Credit Hours: 3
COM 257 - Arguing Well: Exploring Argumentation and Debate Credit Hours: 3
COM 425 - Negotiation Credit Hours: 3
ENG 204 - Introduction to Professional Writing Credit Hours: 3
PAR 110 - Introduction to Logic Credit Hours: 3
PLS 311 - Legal Research and Writing Credit Hours: 3
PLS 498 - Internship in Political Science Credit Hours: 3 To 6 (approved legal internship)

Related Courses (6 hours)

BLA 261 - Law and Society Credit Hours: 3
BLA 361 - Legal Environment of Business Credit Hours: 3
BLA 363 - Cyber Law Credit Hours: 3
BLA 371 - International Business Law Credit Hours: 3
BLA 461 - Commercial Law Credit Hours: 3
COM 361 - Media Law and Ethics Credit Hours: 3
CRM 105 - Introduction to Criminal Justice Credit Hours: 3
CRM 110 - Crime and Justice Issues Credit Hours: 3
CRM 250 - Crime in the Cape Fear Credit Hours: 3
CRM 255 - Criminology Credit Hours: 3
CRM 307 - Police in Society Credit Hours: 3
CRM 310 - White Collar Crime Credit Hours: 3
CRM 315 - Victimology Credit Hours: 3
CRM 320 - Criminal Courts Credit Hours: 3
CRM 330 - Corrections Credit Hours: 3
CRM 370 - Racialization and the Criminal Justice System Credit Hours: 3
CRM 375 - Drugs and Crime Credit Hours: 3
CRM 380 - Criminal Law Credit Hours: 3
CRM 381 - Criminal Procedure Credit Hours: 3
CRM 410 - World Criminal Justice Systems Credit Hours: 3
CRM 420 - Collective Violence Credit Hours: 3
FST 304 - Legal Issues in Film and Entertainment Law Credit Hours: 3
MGT 456 - Employee and Labor Relations Credit Hours: 3
PAR 220 - Race and Social Justice Credit Hours: 3
PED 379 - Sport, Physical Activity and the Law Credit Hours: 3
PLS 204 - Judicial Politics Credit Hours: 3
PLS 250 - Crime in the Cape Fear Credit Hours: 3
PLS 329 - Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy Credit Hours: 3
PLS 426 - International Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 255 - Criminology Credit Hours: 3
SOC 449 - Sociology of Law Credit Hours: 3
SOC 321 - Immigration and U.S. Society Credit Hours: 3
SWK 311 - Child Abuse and Neglect Credit Hours: 3

Total: 24 hours

Additional Information

Note that some of the related courses have prerequisites which are not themselves counted toward the minor. Students must acquire the prerequisites and not ask to be waived into courses. Further, some of the related courses are only open to students in the Cameron School of Business. Related courses are also offered under PLS 495 (Department Seminar). These and other courses may be counted toward the minor at the discretion of the minor coordinator. A waiver form signed by the minor coordinator should be submitted in these cases. Students must earn at least a ‘B’ (3.00) average in all courses counted for the pre-law minor. At least six of the twenty-four hours counted toward the minor must come from outside the Department of Public and International Affairs. Please note that the internship in Political Science (PLS 498) requires a minimum of a 3.0 overall GPA. In some cases, the instructor may grant students with lower GPAs the opportunity to pursue the internship for academic credit. The pre-law minor is designed to provide an advantage to students who plan to apply to law school after completing their degree; however, the minor is not a requirement for law school applicants.