Recommended Courses

The following are some specific course recommendations for pre-law students at Calvin.

These are not requirements, since the pre-law program has no specific course requirements—and no student would be able to take every Calvin University course that helps to prepare for a legal career. Use these lists (and the input of your pre-law advisor) to inform your choice of courses as you work toward your career goal.

For more detailed descriptions of each course, please refer to Calvin's academic catalog.

• Courses which meet CCE credit
  • "Justice, Equality and the Law" (IDIS 290) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • "American Constitutional Foundations" (POLS 310)
  • "International Organizations and Law" (POLS 309)
  • "Business Law" (BUS 350)
  • "Criminology" (SOC 303)
    
• Courses which develop skills and values

  Analytic and problem-solving skills

  • "The Introduction to Logic" (PHIL 171) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • "Principles of Microeconomics" (ECON 221) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

  Critical reading skills

  • Any upper-division course in the humanities or social sciences

  Writing and researching skills

  • "Written Rhetoric" (ENG 101)
  • Academic and Professional Writing (ENGL 261)
  • "Business Writing" (ENGL 261)
  • "The Craft of Writing" (ENGL 260)
  • Any upper-division course in the social sciences

  Oral communication and listening skills

  • "Argumentation and Advocacy" (CAS 311) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

  Language of law
  

  • "Elementary Latin I" (LATN 101)
  • "Elementary Latin II" (LATN 102)
• Courses which develop areas of knowledge

  Politics and political theory

  • "Ideas and Institutions in American Politics" (POLS 101)
  • "Persons in Political Community" (POLS 110)
  • "Governments and Globalization" (POLS 214)
  • "The President and Congress" (POLS 234)
  • "Freedom, Justice and Political Authority" (POLS 240)
  • "Institutions, Civil Society and Revolution" (POLS 301)
  • "Political Liberalism and Its Critics" (POLS 306)

  Ethics and justice

  • "Ethics" (PHIL 205)
  • "Law, Politics and Legal Practice" (PHIL 202) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • "Ethical Theory" (PHIL 365)

  Economics

  • "Principles of Economics" (ECON 151)
  • "Principles of Macroeconomics" (ECON 222)

  History

  • "History of the West and the World II" (HIST 152)
  • "U.S.A." (HIST 229)
  • "America from Republic to Empire" (HIST 252)

  Mathematics

  • "Mathematics in the Contemporary World" (MATH 100)
  • "Introduction to Managerial Accounting" (ACCT 203)
  • "Financial Accounting" (BUS 204)

  Human behavior

  • "Introductory Psychology" (PSYC 151)
  • "Sociological Principles and Perspectives" (SOC 151)
  • "Sociology of Deviance" (SOC 203)
  • "Diversity and Inequality in the United States" (SOC 250)
  • "Intercultural Communication" (SOC 231)
• Courses related to law
  • "American Constitutional Foundations" (POLS 310) – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • "International Organizations and Law" (POLS 309)
  • "Law in Business" (BUS 350)
  • "Criminal Justice System" (SOC 210)
  • "Criminology" (SOC 303)