Pre-professional Law

 The work of a lawyer is the work of a well-trained mind. It requires good judgments, keen insights into what is true and what matters most, and the right words to get the job done.  For law school and for a career in the legal profession, there is no better major than History. Our students arrive at law school with the strong background they will need to succeed. History courses train students in the skills they will actually use on the job every day: finding out which facts matter, weighing evidence, building good arguments, and putting it all together to make a powerful case with a broad, deep understanding of the "big picture".  History majors develop critical thinking, learn political and social analysis, improve their oral presentation skills, and concentrate on writing and the use of evidence - all things that help them get into law school and perform well there and in the practice of law. And in History, you'll see that real people with real stories matter the most. For History majors, it's not all numbers and statistics, impersonal data sets, and abstract theories removed from the real world and the lives of ordinary people. Work in History trains you to see what really counts and to tell a story that genuinely does justice to the facts. That's what attorneys do all the time, and that is why History offers excellent career preparation for future lawyers.

 History majors interested in law should consider taking the courses listed below.

Course List

Please refer to the Current Courses and Year at a Glace pages for course offerings.

HIEU 102. Roman History

HIEU 103. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

HIEU 104. Byzantine Empire

HIEU 157. Religion and the Law in Modern European History

HISC 131. Science, Technology, and Law

HITO 134. International Law - War Crimes and Genocide 

HITO 119/HMNR 100. Human Rights History and Theory

HIUS 130. U.S. Cultural History from 1607 to 1865

HIUS 131. U.S. Cultural History from 1865 to 1917

HIUS 133. The Golden Age of Piracy

HIUS 136. Citizenship and Civil Rights in the Twentieth Century

HIUS 150. American Legal History to 1865

HIUS 151. American Legal History since 1865

HIUS 153. American Political Trials

HIUS 155A. Religion and Law in American History: Foundations to the Civil War

HIUS 155B. Religion and Law in American History: Civil War to the Present

HIUS 156. American Women/American Womanhood, Colonial Era to 1870

HIUS 157. American Women/American Womanhood, 1870 to the Present

HIUS 169. Topics in American Legal and Constitutional History

Please Note: The Degree Audit will not automatically pick up the courses for a Pre-professional Emphasis. The Undergraduate Advisor must enter the courses manually. Once you have completed the three courses for this Pre-professional field, please message the Undergraduate Advisor via the Virtual Advising Center (VAC) with: 
1. the Pre-Professional Emphasis you would like listed
2. a list of the three courses you have taken and passed that will fulfill the Thematic Emphasis requirement