Students planning to attend law school after completing a degree at Rocky Mountain College are encouraged to supplement their major by taking on a secondary Pre-Law minor. Along with the completion of all requirements for their major, Pre-Law students take core courses in government, law, and logic, and choose among electives in the four categories listed below.

Required courses are intended to foster critical thinking skills, develop advanced writing abilities, and acquire an understanding of the human condition as it relates to the issues of legal and social justice. Students in the program will also receive assistance with LSAT test preparation and the law school application process.

Minor in Pre-Law

Required courses:

POL203, American Government
POL412, Constitutional Law
PHR205, Logic

Select one of the following:
ENG319, Creative Non-Fiction Writing
ENG325, Professional Writing
ENG359, History and Grammar of English

Select one of the following:
COM240, Rhetoric of Western Thought
COM260, Debating Contemporary Issues
COM404, Rhetoric of Protest and Dissent

Select one of the following:
PHR303, Ethics
PHR340, Christian Ethics

Select one of the following:
AVS312, Aviation Law
BSA331, Business Law
IDS205, Negotiations
IDS305, Mediation
POL321 History of Political and Social Thought
PSY/SOC201 Social Psychology
SOC242, Cultural Anthropology
SOC321, Criminology

or other relevant Special Topics course with permission of faculty

All courses for this program fall under other programs.

AVS312 - Aviation Law

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
This course provides a forum for understanding the statutes, regulations, and case law governing aviation. Topics of study include administrative law, FAA enforcement, aviation medical issues, business organizations, airline liability, aircraft accidents, aircraft transactions, and airline labor law.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing

BSA331 - Business Law

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
A course that explores the legal principles relating to business transactions: contracts, sales, commercial paper, intellectual property, and e-commerce. A study of the legal environment of business is emphasized. This course is often required as a prerequisite for master's level business programs.

COM240 - Rhetoric of Western Thought

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
This course investigates the evolution of rhetorical theories from ancient Greece to contemporary models of communication. It focuses on the application of theories to communication events in order to explicate how communication shapes culture.
Co-requisite: COM 102

COM260 - Debating Contemporary Issues

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
This course explores persuasion, reasoning and argumentation by analyzing current controversies in local, national and international politics. Students prepare their own arguments and analyze arguments in media. Students develop effective persuasive speaking and refutation skills by debating one another in class.
Prerequisite: COM 102

COM404 - Rhetoric of Protest and Dissent

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
This course examines why and how protest occurs, the challenges protesters face rhetorically, and the available options from which protesters can choose. Students will emerge with an appreciation of how difficult protest is and how important it is for a vital society.
Prerequisites: COM 240; junior or senior standing

ENG319 - Creative Non-Fiction Writing

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
Students study examples of creative nonfiction and practice writing their own. They also gain experience-incorporating research into their prose.
Prerequisite: ENG 119

ENG325 - Professional Writing

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
This course teaches concepts, practices, and skills for communicating technical, scientific, or business-related information. Topics include understanding how people read, designing documents, incorporating graphics, writing about statistical results, rewriting, editing, and using the Internet. This course may be especially useful for non-English majors, providing them with the tools and techniques to communicate their messages effectively.
Prerequisite: ENG 119

ENG359 - History and Grammar of English

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
Students are introduced to the linguistic and theoretic approaches to the study of English, including phonology and morphology. Students pursue an in-depth study of syntax, focusing on the grammar of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Students also review the history of English from proto-Germanic to the development of regional dialects, cultural variations, and “global” English.

IDS205 - Negotiations

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 2
Negotiation constitutes the primary form of dispute resolution. Negotiation is a comprehensible social process, not a mystical process in a black box; it can be analyzed, understood, and modeled. Negotiation is a learnable and teachable skill. Negotiator’s are made not born, and skills can be improved and relearned throughout life. The goal of this course is to empower the student, to become a comfortable negotiator - to appreciate the professional and personal enjoyment to be derived from negotiating.

IDS305 - Mediation

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
Mediation is an interdisciplinary field. Mediators come from all disciplines and walks of life. A potential mediator ought to possess including; the patience of Job, the hide of a rhinoceros, and the wisdom of Solomon. Mediation is an alternative to a decision rendered by a judge, arbitrator, or other decision maker. Mediators help the parties in a dispute to engage in constructive and creative communication, which will allow them to explore the issues and reach a mutually acceptable resolution of their dispute. The goal of the course is to provide those basic skills necessary to further pursue mediation, either as a profession or as another arrow in the student’s quiver of practical and life skills.

PHR205 - Logic

Semester: On Demand
Semester hours: 3
An introductory course in the principles and methods used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning. This course aims to help students think and read critically and to write argumentative papers. Both inductive and deductive logic will be studied.

PHR303 - Ethics

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
This course examines why and how protest occurs, the challenges protesters face rhetorically, and the available options from which protesters can choose. Students will emerge with an appreciation of how difficult protest is and how important it is for a vital society.

PHR340 - Christian Ethics

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
How can a Christian make moral decisions? We will study the biblical basis for ethics, and several modern Christian ethicists to understand how they move from the beliefs of Christianity to recommendations for specific ethical action.

POL203 - American Government

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
This course provides an analysis of the American system of government on three levels. Students will examine the origins of our system of government, the nature and role of our Constitution with its functional and territorial distribution of powers, and the importance of government at the three levels.

POL321 - History of Political and Social Thought

Semester: On Demand
Semester hours: 3
The development of political and social ideas from ancient Greece to the present is examined.
Prerequisite: POL 101

POL412 - Constitutional Law

Semester: Fall
Semester hours: 3
A case-method approach to the landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, with an emphasis on the doctrine of judicial review and the role of the Court in interpreting the Constitution and shaping American legal culture. The course will focus on the exercise and limitations of federal power in the areas of the economy, civil rights, and individual liberties, as well as the Constitutional basis on which statutes and other regulatory provisions are adjudicated. Special attention will be given to Constitutional clauses related to free speech, due process, and equal protection under the law.

PSY201 - Social Psychology

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
Students study the behavior of individuals as it is controlled, influenced, or limited by the sociocultural environment, social interaction, and basic interrelations of the individual, society, and culture. This course is designed to enable stu- dents to see themselves as both shaping and being shaped by their culture. Attention is also focused on inclusion and diversity. This course is cross listed with SOC 201.
Prerequisite: PSY 101

SOC201 - Social Psychology

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
Students study the behavior of individuals as it is controlled, influenced, or limited by the sociocultural environment, social interaction, and basic interrelations of the individual, society, and culture. This course is designed to enable students to see themselves as both shaping and being shaped by their culture. Attention is also focused on inclusion and diversity. This course is cross listed with PSY 201.
Prerequisite: PSY 101

SOC242 - Cultural Anthropology

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
Students are introduced to anthropological analysis of human behavior. Topics will include a cross-cultural examination of the systemic relations among economic, social, political, and religious behaviors in various cultures.

SOC321 - Criminology

Semester: Spring
Semester hours: 3
This course focuses on the nature and extent of crime and delinquency: an historical survey of explanatory theories focusing on the economic, social, and psychological causes of criminal behavior; and current methods of treatment, policy, and prevention.
Prerequisite: SOC 101