Law school graduates have innumerable career paths open up to them. With a law degree, you can work in industry, nonprofit management, health care, politics, journalism or public service. You can represent huge corporations or individuals. You can practice law in a courtroom or even preside over one; apply the law in an administrative setting; be an advocate for a cause; or use your knowledge of the law in virtually any industry.
Do you want to be a change agent in society or to join the profession of world leaders such as Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi? Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt? Do you want to dedicate your life to helping others?
If so, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Law Pathway is for you.
How does a 51³Ô¹ÏÍø education relate?
The liberal arts, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-style, expose you to a broad range of academic subjects and prepare you to hone your critical-thinking and communication skills; deepen your understanding of other cultures and others’ experiences; create empathy; encourage creativity; and broaden your perspective. Lawyers use those same skills, regardless of where or how they practice the law.
Through its Law Scholar Program, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø partners with the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington and the McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis to enable 51³Ô¹ÏÍø graduates to move smoothly into one of those schools, which value the liberal arts as top-notch training for future lawyers.
Says Greg Canada, assistant dean of admissions for The Maurer School: “Successful graduates of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø have mastered certain skills that are associated to their field of study — critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, analytical precision. These same skills tend to indicate success in law school — and success in the legal profession.â€
What 51³Ô¹ÏÍø courses should I explore?
An exploration of the nature and methods of persuasive communication, including motivational theories, attention, logical argument, audience analysis and the role of personality, integrated with practice in public speaking.
Inquiry into media law, including responsibility and free speech issues, libel, privacy, fair trial, copyright, obscenity, the FCC, shield laws, censorship, management and operating regulations, newsperson privileges, political communication and advertising regulation. An analysis of the political and economic forces affecting the development of media law. Prerequisite: COMM 233 or 237 or permission of instructor.
An overview of the history of the United States during the long 20th century, including domestic politics, foreign policy, and social power. Not only will we think about the big ideas, events, and themes in U.S. history, we will learn how to ask meaningful historical questions and develop the skills to answer them, especially primary-source analysis. Central questions we will ask are: What have Americans considered to be the role of the government? What have Americans considered to be the role of the United States in the world? How has the meaning and practice of democracy changed? How has power operated through categories of race, gender, and class? What stories about the nation's past and identity have Americans created to serve contemporary purposes?
A study of a special topic at an advanced level. This and all 300-level courses are small discussion classes. Descriptions of HIST 300 courses offered in a given semester are available on the History department Website or in the History department office prior to registration for that semester. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Major philosophers and philosophical schools of western philosophy. The course covers Descartes through Kant. Emphasis on epistemology and metaphysics. Offered only spring semester.
Historical and contemporary answers to some of the main problems of ethics, including the standard of right and wrong, the criteria of goodness, the possibility of ethical knowledge and the place of reason in ethics.
An examination of the extent of, limits to, and grounds for individual and collective moral obligations with respect to the 'more-than-human world.' Discusses anthropocentric, zoocentric, biocentric and ecocentric value theories; ecofeminist, deep ecology, and environmental justice perspectives; and/or such topics as biodiversity, climate change, sustainable agriculture, and/or ethics of consumption. This course may include a community engagement/service learning project and required field trips.
An examination of ethical questions relating to business activity. Topics include: economic justice, the moral responsibilities of corporations, rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, business and consumers, regulation of business.
Perplexing moral issues arising in contemporary biomedical practice, research and medical care. Readings from a variety of sources.
Coming Soon
A systematic study of reasoning with emphasis on questions of meaning and validity. Includes sentential logic, elementary quantification, a survey of fallacies and selected topics in inductive logic.
With an emphasis on classic texts from writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Mill and Marx, this course pursues fundamental questions in political philosophy. Why have government at all? What is the nature and extent of our obligation to obey government? What obligations does the government have toward us? What right do we have to disobey? Our first goal will be to understand our authors' answers to such questions, but our most important task will be the critical appraisal of their answers. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy of permission of instructor.
An inquiry into topics, such as, the nature of law, the relation of law to morality, the notion of responsibility in the law, punishment and the import for law of liberty of expression. Readings from classical and recent philosophers of law.
Hear Christopher Tucker '08, corporate counsel - Cummins Inc., share why his liberal arts education was a strength when applying for law school.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø students traveled to the Indiana State House for a tour, to witness two oral arguments in the Supreme Court and to visit with 5 Justices of the Supreme Court (including Chief Justice Loretta Rush.)Â
Vernon Jordan '57 speaking in 1986 on his 51³Ô¹ÏÍø experience.
Students are admitted to law school from almost every academic discipline. No matter what you major in, the broad range of academic pursuits at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø will prepare you to attend law school and practice law.
You may choose to major in subjects that are considered to be traditional preparation for law school, such as history, English, philosophy, political science, economics or business, or you may focus your undergraduate studies in areas as diverse as art, music, science, mathematics, computer science, engineering or education.
Here are some courses with content that is related to law or the LSAT exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
- .
You’ll work at one of Washington’s top media organizations. - .
If you land this journalism-focused internship, you’ll be exposed to the law and courtrooms and get a leg up when you apply to law school.
Putnam County Counsel in the Court Program, a partnership between 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP (Indianapolis office), District 10 Pro Bono, Indiana Legal Services and the Putnam County Courthouse. This program provides free legal advice and help with documents and civil legal filings on the first Tuesday of every month at the Putnam County Courthouse.
You will have the opportunity to assist with intake and witness the law firsthand while building your professional network.
We encourage you to study abroad for a semester or for a shorter duration during winter or May term. The American Bar Association likewise encourages study abroad, where you will gain “an understanding of diverse cultures within and beyond the United States, of international institutions and issues, of world events, and of the increasing interdependence of the nations and communities within our world.â€
- , a lawyer at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
- Kraig Kinney ’92, state director and counsel of Emergency Management Services at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security
- Vernon Jordan ’57, civil rights activist and adviser to presidents
The Kathryn F. Hubbard Center for Student Engagement is your primary source for pre-law questions and advice. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s other centers also are great resources, and virtually every academic department can provide a sound foundation for a legal career.
- Colleen McCracken Renick, PH.D
Assistant Director of Graduate and Professional Advising and Pre-Health Advisor
Kathryn F. Hubbard Center for Student Engagement