Minor in Pre-Law
This 21 hour minor allows exposure to a variety of skills identified as crucial to success in the study of law and a variety of legal career settings. Skills such as written and oral communication, critical thinking, problem solving, self development, and citizenship are useful for the study of law. This minor allows students to structure a minor outside of their identified major that describes the rigors of a legal education. The Pre-Law Minor allows a student to select from courses from over 15 departments at SIUE that continue to improve those previously identified critical skills. Whether or not law school is the ultimate goal, this Minor can be useful to spark an interest in justice issues. A student may take no more than two courses from a specific department to fulfill the minor requirements (Law and Society does not count towards a specific department), and must take a minimum of four courses at either 300 or 400 level at SIUE to successfully complete the minor.
Admission Requirements
Students must successfully complete (earn a grade of C or better) in ENG 102 and RA 101.
Retention Standards
A grade of C or better in all minor coursework is required.
Required Courses (Total 21 credit hours)
CJ 348/PHIL 348/POLS 392 (3 hours)
Skills Courses
Required Introductory Course to the Minor
- CJ 348/PHIL 348/POLS 392: Law and Society
Written (at least 1 required, and others may be taken as electives)
- ENG 201 Intermediate Composition
- ENG 332 Argument
- ENG 334 Scientific Writing
- ENG 490 Advanced Composition
- POLS 292 Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing
Oral Communication (at least 1 required and others may be taken as electives)
- ACS 200 Advanced Public Speaking
- ACS 204 Oral Argumentation
- ACS 300 Communication in Interviewing
- ACS 304 Conflict Management and Communication
Critical Thinking, Quantitative Reasoning, Logic (at least 1 required and others may be taken as electives)
- ECON 331 Labor Economics
- MATH 223 Logic and Mathematical Reasoning
- PHIL 212 Inductive Logic
- PHIL 213 Introduction to Deductive Logic
- PSYC 206 Social Psychology
- PSYC 208 Cognitive Psychology
Interdisciplinary Courses (elective)
- IS 350/WST 350: Women in Social Institutions
- IS courses as approved by the Pre-Law Coordinator
Legal Studies (two required, one from each section and others may be taken as electives)
Principles of Law (at least 1 required)
- CJ 206 Principles of Criminal Law
- CJ 207 Criminal Procedure
- POLS 390* The Judicial System or CJ 410 Judicial Process (cannot take both for Pre-Law Interdisciplinary Minor credit)
- POLS 495* Constitutional Law: Powers of Government
- POLS 496* Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Theory or Application of Law (at least 1 required and others may be taken as electives)
- ACCT 340 Business Law for Accountants
- CJ 465 Theories of a Just Society
- CNST 310 Legal Aspects of Land Surveying
- CNST 411 Construction Contracts**
- ENSC 402/POLS497 Environmental Law
- HIST 201 US History and Constitution
- MC 401 Media Law & Policy
- PHIL 340 Social and Political Philosophy
- PHIL 343/POLS 391 Philosophy of Law
- PHIL 440/POLS 484 Classical Political Theory
- PHIL 441/POLS 485 Modern Political Theory
- PHIL 498/POLS 498 Legal Theory
- POLS 424* Administrative Law
- POLS 499* Public Law
Elective Courses
NOTE: Students may select one course from these areas, or may choose to take a course from the above-referenced Skills Courses to meet this Elective requirement.
Critical Thinking, Quantitative Reasoning, Logic
- ACCT 200 Introduction to Principles of Accounting
- ECON 111 Principles of Macroeconomics
- ECON 112 Principles of Microeconomics
- MS 250 Mathematical Methods for Business Analysis
- MS 251 Statistical Analysis for Business Decisions
- POLS 300* Introduction to Political Analysis
- STAT 107 Concepts of Statistics
- STAT 244 Statistics
Applications / Extensions of Law
- ANTH 312 Contemporary Native Americans
- ANTH 350 Applied Anthropology
- ANTH 359 Law, Politics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- ANTH 366 Biology of Human Behavior
- ANTH 369 Introduction to Forensic Anthropology
- PHIL 222 Environmental Ethics
- PHIL 225 Contemporary Moral Issues
- PHIL 320 Ethics
- PHIL 321 Ethics in the Medical Community
- PSYC 320 Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- PSYC 365 Group Dynamics and Individual Behavior
- PSYC 431 Psychopathology
Written Communication
- ENG 369 Grammatical Analysis
- ENG 405 Pragmatics
- ENG 409 Syntax
- ENG 416 Language and Society
- ENG 491 Technical and Business Writing
Oral Communication
- ACS 305 Listening
- ACS 430 Persuasion and Social Influence
- THEA 112a Core: Acting 1
- THEA 210 Improvisation
- POLS 410* Legal Internship or CJ 398 Pre-Law Program Internship Independent Study
- (cannot take both for Pre-Law Interdisciplinary Minor credit)
* For those students accepted to the Pre-Law minor, Political Science may waive prerequisites. Please meet with the instructor of the appropriate course.
** Students may take CNST 341 Plans and Specifications without meeting the prerequisites only with the consent of the instructor.
Pre-Law Minor courses are listed in their respective Departmental Course Descriptions section.
For more information, please contact the Pre-Law Mentor.
