Legal Studies, Bachelor of Arts (6001)
Program Coordinator
Patricia H. Minter, patricia.minter@wku.edu, (270) 745-5098
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 | |
| Mass Communication Law and Ethics | ||
| Legal Ethics | ||
| Press Law and Ethics | ||
| Ethical Theory | ||
| Government and Ethics | ||
| Required International/Comparative Elective course (choose one): | 3 | |
| International Organization and Law | ||
| Comparative Legal Systems | ||
| Human Rights in History | ||
| Comparative Systems of Juvenile Justice | ||
| International Justice and Crime | ||
| Environmental Management and Law | ||
| Required Business Elective (choose one): | 3 | |
| Legal Environment of Business | ||
| Property Law | ||
| Business Law | ||
| Economics, Law, and Public Choice | ||
| Corporate Law | ||
| The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination | ||
| Required Law and Justice Elective (choose one): | 3 | |
| Women and the Law | ||
| Criminal Justice Procedures | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Race, Class, and Crime | ||
| Sociology of Criminal Law | ||
| Gender, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Psychology and Law | ||
| Unrestricted Electives (6 hours needed from at least two disciplines. | 6 | |
| Mass Communication Law and Ethics | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Juvenile Delinquency | ||
| Race, Class, and Crime | ||
| Comparative Systems of Juvenile Justice | ||
| Sociology of Criminal Law | ||
| Gender, Crime, and Justice | ||
| International Justice and Crime | ||
| Economics, Law, and Public Choice | ||
| The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination | ||
| Argument and Analysis in Written Discourse | ||
| Theories of Rhetoric and Persuasive Writing | ||
| Environmental Management and Law | ||
| Press Law and Ethics | ||
| Human Rights in History | ||
| History of the Civil Rights Movement in America | ||
| Internship in Legal Studies | ||
| Legal Environment of Business | ||
| Business Law | ||
| Employment Law | ||
| Symbolic Logic | ||
| Social Ethics | ||
| Ethical Theory | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Legal Ethics | ||
| Property Law | ||
| Women and the Law | ||
| Comparative Legal Systems | ||
| Corporate Law | ||
| Internship in Paralegal Studies | ||
| Psychology and Law | ||
| Public Policy | ||
| Civil Liberties | ||
| Criminal Justice Procedures | ||
| Government and Ethics | ||
| International Organization and Law | ||
| Total Hours | 36 | |
| 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 | |||