|
||
Legal Affairs Minor
| Law increasingly permeates almost every aspect of our lives, including our transportation systems, food distribution networks, and the health care system. Because law is such an important aspect of everyday life, several departments within and outside the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UAB offer law or law-related courses that provide students an opportunity to learn more about law; some of these courses are specifically designed to help students prepare for careers that in some way are involved with the law (e.g., policing, social work, counseling, or government). The Department of Justice Sciences believes it important that undergraduate students have an opportunity to learn more about law, particularly law as the subject of inquiry in a liberal arts setting. The Legal Affairs minor currently offered by the department does not seek to specifically prepare students for law school. Instead, the program is designed to help students learn to think both critically and creatively about law. Because the program is interdisciplinary and presents law as the subject of liberal inquiry, students in the program examine law from various perspectives. The minor also provides students the opportunity to develop a solid foundation of knowledge regarding such topics as: the origins and functions of law; the basic rules of law; comparative legal systems; law as a social phenomenon; the influences and effects of the legal profession on society; and the impact of societal trends and changes on law. Additionally, the minor exposes students to both general and specific aspects of substantive and procedural law, both civil and criminal; helps them understand not only litigation, but alternatives to it; provides students the opportunity to enhance their legal research and writing skills; and facilitates student participation in the department's nationally recognized Mock Trial Team. Consisting of required courses, core electives, and other electives, the Legal Affairs curriculum is sequential, where all elective courses build upon two required courses: JS150 (Foundations of Law) and JS230 (Judicial Process). The curriculum is structured in such a way as to insure that a student can complete its requirements in a typical academic year (Fall & Summer). Under no circumstances may a student pursuing the minor earn dual credit toward his or her major and the minor by completing a course appearing in both curricula.
Legal Affairs Curriculum (18 Cr. Hrs.) |
 |
|
|