LAW AND SOCIETY
Law and Society Major
Minné Hall, Room 212 (History Dept) (507-457-5400)
Co-Directors: Kurt Hohenstein (History) and John Campbell (History)
FACULTY
John Campbell, Professor; B.A., Wesleyan University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Minnesota; 1996 –
Kurt Hohenstein, Assistant Professor, B.A., J.D., M.A., University of Nebraska; Ph.D., University of Virginia; 2005 –
PROGRAM AND ITS BENEFITS TO STUDENTS
As one of the central forces, processes, and institutions in modern life, the law (in all of its guises) merits the liberal-arts-based examination offered by the Law and Society Program. Law and Society is a richly interdisciplinary major that enables interested students to study law and legal culture from many different disciplinary, conceptual, historical, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. The Law and Society program offers numerous benefits for students as they pursue their post-collegiate life:
• Because of their broad-based, multidisciplinary background, graduates of the Law and Society program will be able to participate more effectively and intelligently as citizens in an ever-changing world.
• Successful participation in this program will provide a sound basis and preparation for students hoping to attend law or graduate school. Although law schools are quick to point out that many undergraduate majors in the liberal arts stand as good preparation, the law and society major, with its focus on the law in the context of an interdisciplinary and liberal arts education, will be especially attractive to law schools. Once in law school, knowledge acquired as a law and society major may give students an added advantage in their law school studies.
• Even if law or graduate school is not the ultimate goal for students majoring in this program, the law and society major will endow any Winona State University student with the intellectual interests and abilities to achieve success (and satisfaction) in other post-collegiate endeavors.
• For students pursuing employment after college, successfully majoring in law and society provides graduates with many valuable intellectual skills–thinking analytically, writing and speaking persuasively, reading and listening critically, and researching and organizing data systematically–desired by many employers. Such versatility is all the more desirable in a world where work and careers continually change.
• By having examined the law from many different disciplines, law and society graduates will have valuable expertise to sell when seeking post-collegiate employment. Given the centrality of the law in contemporary American society, there are many potential employers—corporate, governmental, and nonprofit to name a few—who are eager to hire successful law and society majors for their understanding of how the law influences the work-a-day world of employers.
REQUIREMENTS
For a checklist of the University’s graduation requirements, see page 23. Specific requirements for the law and society major include:
1. Being admitted to the program
2. Successfully completing the required courses with a minimum 2.50 GPA.
3. Successfully writing a capstone senior thesis on some topic involving the law. Although there is considerable flexibility in the choice of topic, the actual coursework for the thesis will be done in the history major sequence of Historical Methods (HIST 298) and the Senior Seminar I and II (HIST 495 and 496).
The senior thesis gives students the opportunity to showcase much of their knowledge and understanding by doing their own in-depth research, analysis, and writing.
B.A. MAJOR - LAW AND SOCIETY (LWSO)
75 S.H.
English (2 S.H.)
ENG 225 Topics in Literature (2)
Note: This course should be selected when the topic relates to law and literature. See your advisor for further clarification.
Geoscience (3 S.H.)
** GEOS 325 Environmental Geoscience (3)
History (16 S.H.)
HIST 101 Introduction to Law & Society (1) (Usually offered fall semester.)
One of the following:
* HIST 120 Western Civilization: Beginning-1500 (3)
* HIST 121 Western Civilization: 1500-1815 (3)
* HIST 122 Western Civilization: 1815-Present (3)
One of the following:
* HIST 150 U.S. History to the Civil War (3)
* HIST 151 U.S. History Since the Civil War (3)
All of the following:
HIST 355 European Intellectual & Cultural History (3)
HIST 365 American Legal History (3)
HIST 488 Constitutional History (3)
Mass Communication (6 S.H.)
MCOM 100 Mass Media & Society (3)
MCOM 405 Issues and Ethics (3)
Philosophy (6 S.H.)
PHIL 210 Inductive Reasoning (3)
PHIL 332 Philosophy of Law (3)
Political Science (9 S.H.)
* POLS 120 Introduction to American Politics (3)
POLS 227 Judicial Process and Politics (3)
POLS 320 Constitutional Law (3)
Psychology (6 S.H.)
* PSY 210 Introduction to Psychological Science (3)
PSY 330 Psychology and the Law (3)
Sociology (6 S.H.)
* SOC 150 Introduction to Sociology (3)
SOC 210 Introduction to Criminal Justice (3)
Senior Writing & Research Requirement (9 S.H.)
HIST 298 History - Historical Methods (3)
HIST 495 History - Senior Seminar I (3)
HIST 496 History - Senior Seminar II (3)
Note: If another department within the College of Liberal Arts develops a senior writing project similar to that required in the History
Department’s methods and seminar courses, it may be substituted for HIST 298, 495, and 496. It is important that the research and writing project focus on some aspect of legal culture.
APPROVED ELECTIVES (12 S.H.)
History - HIST
486 American Intellectual & Cultural History (3)
Mass Communication - MCOM
300 Mass Media Law (3)
Political Science - POLS
220 Civil Rights: Civil Liberties (3)
** 260 Development of Political Thought (3)
** 358 Contemporary Political Thought (3)
421 The First Amendment (3)
** 450 Feminist Political Theory (3)
Psychology - PSY
430 Forensic Psychology (3)
Social Work - SOCW
425 Law and Social Work (3)
Sociology/Criminal Justice - SOC
315 Criminology (3)
425 Social Change and Social Movements (3)
431 Social Class and Power (3)
** These courses have specific prerequisites. Students must either satisfy these prerequisites or get permission from the instructor.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 15:38
