Requirements

Credits Required

Total credits in the minor: 16

Credits at CSUMB: Please see an HCOM advisor.

Prerequisites

None

Outcomes, Courses, and Assessment

Any course currently available to HCOM majors for the Pre-Law concentration is also available to students seeking a Pre-Law minor. Students choose one course that meets each learning outcome and one additional Pre-Law course of their own choosing. Students may NOT use one course to meet TWO of the minor's learning outcomes. Students may also choose one learning experience (an internship or an independent study) to complete their elective course for the minor.

To complete the minor, students will have learned the following outcomes:

LO 1 Ethical and Effective Decision-Making ~ Students will be able to identify and describe complex issues involving decision-making processes in a variety of contexts-at the interpersonal, community and global levels. Students will also demonstrate the ability to self-reflexively identify and describe their own and other people's relevant beliefs, attitudes, values and ethical frameworks in their socio-historical context without imposing their own onto others.

LO 2 Deeper Understanding of Law in Society ~ Students will develop a deeper understanding of how law and legal systems intersect with everyday lives of ordinary people, especially in terms of race, class, ethnicity, gender, age and sexual orientation. Students will also develop a deeper awareness of how law and legal systems intersect with systems of power and privilege. In the process, students will develop the skill to analyze how law and legal institutions articulate with historically specific multicultural communities in the United States and/or across national boundaries.

  • Complete one of the following:
    HCOM 310: Free Speech & Resp; HCOM 340S: Topics in Social Movements SL; HCOM 343: Race & Gender Justice; HCOM 357: Constitutional Law; HCOM 358: Crit Perspect on Law inSociety; HCOM 359: Sexuality, Law and History

LO3 Critical Thinking, Communication and Advocacy Skills ~ Students will become aware of the impact of interpersonal, intercultural, small group, and/or institutional contexts on communication dynamics, and develop the ability to understand how and why beliefs, values, assumptions and communication practices interact to shape ways of being and knowing. In the process, students will demonstrate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills that enable empathic and critical communication and advocacy. Such skills will include the ability to ask relevant questions, critically identify and explore significant information, and the ability to address, analyze, and assess divergent points of view with mutual respect.

  • Complete one of the following:
    HCOM 301: Ways Of Knowing; HCOM 312: GWAR-Cooperative Argumentation; HCOM 404: Restorative Justice; HCOM 412: Multicultural Conflict Resolut

Students may choose one upper division course from another academic unit at CSUMB to meet one of the minor learning outcomes or as their elective, subject to the approval of the Pre-Law advisor. At present, the following courses outside of HCOM have been approved to satisfy the following minor learning outcomes. Other courses will be added periodically. Students may petition the Pre-Law advisor for a course not listed here to be added to the list.

Additional Choices for LO 1: Ethical and Effective Decision-Making
· ESSP 383; CHHS 350: Ethics for Health & Human Serv; BUS 331: Organizational Behavior; BUS 371S: Ethics & Social Justice; GS 390: Global Politics

Additional Choices for LO 2: Deeper Understanding of Law in Society
· ENVS 387: Water Resource Assess/Law/Poli; GS 335: Comparative/Gov'ts & Politics;  GS 350: Gender/Violence in Global Life; GS 360: Religion/Violence/Peacemaking; ENVS 384S: Envir Justice & Envir Poli SL; SBS 350: Domin/Resist/20th/Cent/Hist/US

Additional Choices for LO 3: Communication and Advocacy Skills
· ENVS 386: Sci, Enviro & Polit Process; CHHS 330: Collab Community Ldrshp; CHHS 340: Conflict Res/Collab Negotiatio; CHHS 350: Ethics for Health & Human Serv;  SL 394S: Service & Social Justice SL

Additional Choices for one class outside of HCOM:
· GS 320: Global Issues & 3rd World; GS 375: Ecological Political Economy; GS 380S: Int'l Organizations & SL