Mar 28, 2024  
Catalog 2023-24 
    
Catalog 2023-24 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Pre-Law, Minor


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Access to and knowledge about the law is an important part of being an active and engaged community member. The Pre-Law minor develops your deeper understanding of law in society and enhances your skills in effective, ethical communication and advocacy.

The Pre-Law minor is interdisciplinary. It complements any CSUMB major, especially Environmental Science, Technology & Policy, Environmental Studies, Business, Collaborative Health and Human Services, Social and Behavioral Science, Global Studies, and Psychology.

Required Courses


Please note: Twelve of the units taken to complete a minor (6 of which are upper division) may not be used in fulfillment of other minors, concentrations, or major requirements.

Students choose one course that meets each area and one additional course from the list of electives. Students may not use one course to meet two of the course areas.

Learning Outcomes


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.

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.

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 empathetic 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.

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