Major
13 courses, plus the transcript notation internship
The following seven courses are required of all majors:
POSC 120: American Government
ECON 111: Microeconomics
ECON 228: Economic Analysis of Policy
LAWP/POSC 248: The Judiciary
LAWP 220: Foundations of Law and Policy
POSC 220: Constitutional Law I, OR, POSC 221: Constitutional Law II
LAWP 400: Senior Seminar
In addition, the major has the following requirements:
ELECTIVES (6):
1 empirical social analysis elective
1 ethics elective
2 law-related electives
2 policy-related electives
TRANSCRIPT NOTATION INTERNSHIP
Must focus on policy and law
Suggested curricular flow through the major
Refer to the following advising sheet:
Law & Policy Major advising sheet
Honors
To graduate with honors as a Law and Policy (LAWP) major you will need to conduct some original research and produce a thesis that meets the standards set by the department faculty. LAWP projects must be a defense or a critique of a policy outcome that is legally related. You must have an overall Grade Point Average of 3.4 or better to proceed with an honors proposal.
Internships
All Law & Policy majors must complete an internship related to law or policy. Excellent quality internships are available in the local area. Carlisle is the county seat and the state capital, Harrisburg, is only 17 miles away. Dickinson alums willing to serve as mentors and internship site supervisors are well placed in both locations. Students are also urged to consider the internship-based Dickinson Semester in Washington program.
NOTE: Students who successfully complete The Washington Center program in Washington, DC, and students who complete a for-credit internship while studying abroad would satisfy their internship requirement and would not have to complete the internship notation process. In almost all other cases, students must complete the Transcript Notation program with the Dickinson College Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development.
Opportunities for off-campus study
Students are encouraged to study off-campus for at least part of their junior year. Students may be able to study off-campus for the entire academic year with careful planning and close consultation with their advisor. The following is a list of the most popular and appropriate programs for Law & Policy majors:
Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS: Copenhagen, Denmark)
The Washington Center (TWC; Washington, DC)
Nilsson Center for European Studies (Bologna, Italy)
Dickinson in Australia (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
Co-curricular activities/programs
Many Law & Policy majors participate in Dickinson's very successful Mock Trial program. For more information, contact mocktrial@dickinson.edu.
Courses
210 Legal Ethics
This course examines the moral responsibilities and ethical duties of a lawyer. While the focus is on the rules governing professional conduct, the course will examine all areas of the law governing the conduct of lawyers.
Prerequisites: POSC 120 or permission of the instructor.
220 Foundations in Law & Policy
This course serves as the gateway to the Law & Policy major. LAWP 220 introduces students to major concepts and significant themes in the contemporary study of law and policy. It grounds itself in interdisciplinary methodology and, in doing so, it emphasizes the complex and multifaceted nature of the law’s relationship not only to how it governs but to whom it governs.
Prerequisite: POSC 120 and ECON 111, may be taken concurrently.
Attributes: Writing in the Discipline
230 Negotiation and Advocacy
This course will focus on the role of the advocate in the law and policy-making process. It will consider various types of advocacy (public debate, litigation, public relations, etc.) and various methods of negotiation as well as compare and contrast the advocate's role in different forums (legislatures, courts, administrative agencies, the press, etc.).
Prerequisites: POSC 120 or permission of the instructor.
Attributes: LAWP Law Elective, PMGT Domestic Public Policy
234 Gender and Justice
This course analyzes how legal theorists have drawn upon notions of gender, sex, and sexuality in order to understand and critique the American legal system and its norms. It considers questions like: How might a feminist perspective on the law illuminate instances of systematized inequality or legalized discrimination? Can queer theorists engage with the law in order to alter it, or does the very act of engagement hinder the possibility of future socio-legal change? How can the law better represent women of color, working women, queer women, stay-at-home mothers, transgender or non-binary individuals, women seeking surrogate or abortion services, and more, without reinforcing traditional understandings of what it means to be a “woman”? These questions – and more – will be taken up as we move through a rich combination of political philosophy, legal cases, and works of socio-legal analysis.
Prerequisites: One POSC, LAWP or WGSS course or permission of instructor. This course is cross-listed as POSC 234 and WGSS 302.
Attributes: LAWP Law Elective, Political Science Elective, Social Sciences, US Diversity, WGSS Intersect/Instit/Power, WGSS Sexual & Gendered Plural
240 Criminal Procedure
This course will examine the constitutional rights that suspects and defendants have in the criminal justice system. Special attention will be given to the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, the right against self- incrimination, and the right to an attorney.
Prerequisites: POSC 120 or permission of the instructor.
Attributes: LAWP Law Elective
248 The Judiciary
A study of the structure, processes, and institutional role of the American judiciary. Topics may include: the adversarial system, criminal and civil procedure, implementation of court decisions, judicial decision-making, legal development, and legal reasoning. Special attention is given to the federal judiciary, especially the Supreme Court.
Prerequisites: POSC 120 or permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed as POSC 248.
250 Juvenile Justice
This course will examine the nature and character of the American juvenile justice system, including its history, changing emphasis, and current trends. The system will be viewed from the point of entry into the system until final disposition. Various treatment alternatives, including rehabilitation, will also be examined.
Prerequisites: POSC 120 or permission of the instructor.
Attributes: LAWP Law Elective
255 Philosophy of Law
This course considers fundamental issues in the study of legal philosophy. These include the meanings and purposes of law, the limits of legal authority, and topics such as: theories of punishment; justifications for civil disobedience; the regulation of sex, gender, and sexuality; economic critiques of judicial process; and the construction of race and ethnicity within the law.
Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy, or POSC 180, 202, 206, 208, or permission of the instructor. This course is cross-listed as PHIL 255.
Attributes: Humanities, LAWP/PMGT Ethics Elective
259 Law, Politics, and Society in Asia
This course examines the interaction between law, legal institutions and citizens in China, Japan, and India. Covering history and the contemporary scene, course focuses on how law works in practice and is understood and used by ordinary people in Asia. It covers areas such as marriage and divorce, the legal profession, lost property, civil rights, the environment, sexuality, mediation, land development and property, among others. Comparisons between the United States and Asia, as well as between Asian countries, will be emphasized. This course is cross-listed as POSC 259 and LAWP 259.
This course is cross-listed as EASN 259 and POSC 259.
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year, Comparative Poli Sci Course, East Asian Social Sci Elective, Global Diversity, LAWP Law Elective, PMGT International Policy, Social Sciences
260 Problem-Solving Courts
Through a hands-on, experiential examination of traditional courts, treatment courts, and addiction issues, this course will introduce the students to the use of problem-solving courts to address drug, DUI, and mental health concerns. A major course component will involve community-based learning. Students will be required to interact with court participants and members of the various problem-solving court teams (e.g., judges, attorneys, probation officers, treatment providers as well as other support specialists, depending on the court’s focus). As the students become familiar with one component of the “war on drugs,” they will be challenged to examine and debate the “war” as a whole.
Attributes: LAWP Law Elective
290 Selected Topics
Courses in the area of Policy Studies. The content of the course will reflect the interests and expertise of faculty and the needs of students.
Prerequisite dependent upon topic.
Attributes: Social Sciences
301 Policy and Leadership
This course will focus both on traditional (top-down)and other less traditional models of leadership (bottom-up, e.g., grass roots advocacy, consensus building, and other less hierarchical models of shared leadership). Leadership in a variety of organizational contexts (e.g., public, private, and non-profit sectors) will be covered, and ethics will be an important theme woven throughout the course.
Prerequisite: LAWP 220.
400 Law and Policy Seminar
This course will serve as a capstone experience for Law and Policy majors. It will echo the key principles covered in the Foundations class, including an appreciation for (1) fluid interdisciplinarity, (2) the contingent nature of knowledge, (3) connections to the wider world beyond the college, (4) principle-based models of leadership, (5) the meaningful application of ethics, and (6) the role of stakeholder values in problem analysis and decision making processes. Emphasis will be placed on helping students refine their interdisciplinary approach to the topics of law and policy in a liberal arts framework. The seminar will give students one last comprehensive look at a series of policies to see how a legal regime limits policy choices and how the policy process informs and limits laws.
Prerequisites: LAWP 220.
