Law and the Liberal Arts

Academic Year 2022-2023

Updates for the 2022-2023 academic year are not reflected here. These updates are available on undergraduatecatalog.richmond.edu.

  • Department Information

    Law and the Liberal Arts

    Nancy Schauber, Coordinator (Philosophy)

    Law and the liberal arts is an interdisciplinary minor that consists of courses from across the curriculum. The courses that count toward the major are among those that are generally recommended by law schools for students thinking about going to law school. The purpose of the courses within the minor is to prepare one to think critically and analytically as a well-rounded liberal artist. The courses are divided into eight areas: law, American history, economics, ethics, legal system, logical reasoning, public speaking and debate, and writing.

  • Minor

    The Law and the Liberal Arts Minor

    Note: Students must receive a C (2.0) or above for these courses to count toward the minor. No course taken for less than half a unit will count towards the minor.

    Six units, including:

    One unit in Area 1

    Five units from at least five of the remaining areas

    No more than three of the courses to be applied toward the minor may be from any one department.

    At least two courses must be at the 300-level or higher to count toward the minor. No more than two courses at the 100-level may count toward the minor.

    Students are expected to fulfill all prerequisites necessary for courses within the minor. Prerequisites do not count toward the minor unless otherwise noted.

    Area 1: Law

    ECON 231 Law and Economics

    PHIL 260 Philosophical Problems in Law and Society

    PHIL 364 Philosophy of Law

    PLSC 331 Constitutional Law

    PLSC 333 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

    PLSC 379 Selected Topics (appropriate when the subject relates primarily to law and the course is approved by the law and the liberal arts advisory council)

    RHCS 353 Rhetoric and Law

    Area 2: American History

    HIST 199 The Tokyo Trials

    HIST 199 Church and State in Early America

    HIST 199 Liberty vs Security: Free Speech from Jefferson to Lincoln

    HIST 200 Colonial America

    HIST 218 State and Society in Modern America

    HIST 299 ST: Transnational Abolitionism

    HIST 391 Transnational Social Reform

    HIST 400 Senior Seminar: The Alien and Sedition Acts

    HIST 901 AP US History (counts as 100-level class)

    Area 3: Economics

    ECON 101 Principles of Microeconomics

    ECON 102 Principles of Macroeconomics

    ECON 105 Introduction to Global Economics

    Area 4: Ethics

    ECON 233 Ethics and Economics

    LDST 210 Justice and Civil Society

    LDST 377 Ethical Decision Making - Health Care

    PHIL 120 Contemporary Moral Issues

    PHIL 265 Bioethics

    PHIL 269 Environmental Ethics

    PHIL 360 Ethics

    PHIL 365 Action, Responsibility, and Free Will

    PHIL 375 Ethics and Practical Reasoning

    RELG 267 Varieties of Christian Ethics

    BUAD 392 Ethical, Social and Legal Responsibilities

    Area 5: Legal System

    ANTH 335 Law and Order: the Anthropology of Justice

    CLSC 320 Cultural Property: Archaeology, Ethics, and Law

    PLSC 337 Legal System

    SOC 207 Crime and Justice in a Post-Modern Society

    Area 6: Logical Reasoning

    CMSC 150 Introduction to Computing

    MATH 300 Fundamentals of Abstract Mathematics

    PHIL 251 Elementary Symbolic Logic

    Area 7: Public Speaking and Debate

    RHCS 343 Rhetoric and Politics 

    Area 8: Writing

    ENGL 383 Introduction to Composition Theory and Pedagogy

    PHIL 353 Philosophical Methods: Majors'/Minors' Seminar