Pre-Law Concentration
Students who wish to major in history and prepare for law school or prestigious J.D.-Ph.D. programs can opt for a pre-law concentration.
Much of the work done by American legal professionals is a form of legal history. Whether interpreting statutes, reading law from court opinions, or divining meaning from the U.S. Constitution, lawyers and judges must continually read (and write) the law’s history in order to make sense of it. Our most contentious constitutional disputes—from school desegregation to the separation of church and state to the abortion controversy—turn on competing historical interpretations of key constitutional provisions. Our difficult social and political problems today have more than just a legal component—they are coiled with law in a braid that extends hundreds of years into our past.
Globally, law is becoming an increasingly important factor in how cultures, societies, and states interact with each other. The global dialogue on human rights—a dialogue conducted within the context of international trade, capital flows, and tense diplomacy—raises pivotal questions not just on what those rights are but how such rights can be implemented and enforced. Understanding how different legal traditions have defined and understood rights, and how they continue to do so, is pivotal to understanding our world history.
The History Department’s pre-law concentration equips students with the analytical tools necessary to be successful in law school and beyond. Students will emerge with the skills necessary to read legal documents in their proper contexts and with an understanding of the origins of the world’s major legal systems. Most importantly, we will not neglect the human subject of legal studies. We mean to study not only black letter law but also how people have made, and lived under, the rule of law.
Please follow the links at right for further information, please explore the links at right for information on designing your pre-law concentration and applying to law school.
To speak with someone about the pre-law concentration, you may contact Dr. H. Robert Baker.
Program Requirements
Undergraduates who wish to complete the pre-law concentration in history must meet all the requirements for the history major, which includes History 3000, History 4990, and 30 hours of upper division classes. The courses that undergraduates select to fulfill major, core, and elective requirements must include the following:
Area F: Courses Appropriate to the Major
For the Pre-Law Concentration, this area has the same requirements as for the history major. The following courses are recommended for the pre-law concentration:
Anth 2020 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Econ 2105 Principles of Macroeconomics
Econ 2106 Principles of Microeconomics
Engl 2130 American Literature
Phil 2010 Great Questions of Philosophy
Area G: Major Courses
Students must take 30 hours of upper division history courses, meet all of the distribution requirements for the history major, and meet the following distribution requirement.
Eight hours from the following list:
Hist 4460 Bills of Rights
Hist 4470 US Legal and Constitutional History
Hist 4532 Crime & Law, Early Mod. Europe
Hist 4540 Britain, Ireland, and the British Atlantic 1485-1689
Hist 4550 Britain, Ireland, and the British Atlantic since 1689
Hist 4630 Modern European Intellectual History I
Hist 4635 Modern European Intellectual History II
In addition, it is recommended that students take at least sixteen hours of writing intensive courses, approved as either WAC (writing across the curriculum) or CTW (critical thinking through writing) courses. The list below is of current WAC/CTW-approved courses, but the list is subject to change as new courses are added every year.
Hist 3000 Introduction to Historical Studies
Hist 3450 History of African Americans in Georgia
Hist 3620 Atlantic World History
Hist 4225 United States in the 1960s
Hist 4460 Bills of Rights (unless used to fulfill Area G1)
Hist 4490 Civil War and Reconstruction
Hist 4540 Atlantic World History
Hist 4580 Modern Germany
Hist 4620 Europe: Culture and Ideas
Hist 4800 History of South Asia to 1757
Hist 4860 Empires
Hist 4990 Historical Research
There are a number of writing intensive courses offered in different disciplines, any of which can count toward the sixteen hours. For a complete list of WAC courses, visit the WAC website at Georgia State University.
Area H: Minor and Additional Courses
History majors must select a minor consisting of at least 15 hours in one department other than history, including at least nine hours at the 3000 level or above. A list of courses recommended for the pre-law concentration student is provided at right in the related links section.
