Undergraduate
Bachelor's Degree Programs
Law in Liberal Arts
Major in Law in Liberal Arts
The Law in Liberal Arts will train and prepare students for careers as paralegals in the legal profession. The major aims to provide students with practical legal skills as well as a background in legal concepts so that graduates will immediately be able to obtain jobs in this rapidly expanding profession. Paralegals are typically employed in law firms, and are also eligible for careers in government, business, and non-profit organizations. Paralegals may not provide legal services directly to public except as permitted by law. The Paralegal Certificate is an American Bar Association approved paralegal program.
IU Indianapolis Law in Liberal Arts Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes
Program Objectives and accompanying Student Learning Outcomes – Developed to coincide with the IU Indianapolis Profiles of Learning for Undergraduate Success.
Program Objective 1: Communicator - To prepare students to communicate effectively in a legal environment. This objective is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:
- Analyze legal situations;
- Understand different arguments and perspectives through effective listening and comprehension skills;
- Effectively communicate both orally and in writing;
- Use legal research tools to write well researched and legally reasoned responses.
Program Objective 2: Problem Solver - To stimulate critical thinking in our students so they can identify, evaluate, and adapt to legal issues. This objective is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:
- Evaluate legal situations;
- Collaborate with peers to solve legal problems;
- Consider legal arguments and counter-arguments and prepare a response;
- Arrive at reasoned persuasive legal conclusions and be able to support these conclusions.
Program Objective 3: Innovator - To equip students with the foundational legal knowledge to allow them to respond to challenges in a legal environment. This objective is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:
- Develop an understanding of legal concepts and structures;
- Decisively apply legal concepts to legal issues;
- Develop an organizational system for accomplishing work;
- Meet strict deadlines;
- Utilize technology to efficiently complete legal work.
Program Objective 4: Community Contributor - To prepare students to understand and follow legal rules and structures, including ethical rules, and to promote fairness and civility. This objective is demonstrated by the student’s ability to:
- Understand and apply procedural rules;
- Behave in a professional and courteous manner;
- Understand and uphold the rules of professional conduct for lawyers;
- Connect learning to the legal community and beyond.
The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Law in Liberal Arts (POLS) requires satisfactory completion of the following:
- A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
- A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
- A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit.
- A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
- Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
- Completion of a total of 33 credit hours in legal specialty courses as defined by the American Bar Association.
- Students planning a double major should consult the Department of Political Science about courses most suitable to their academic interests and career goals.
IU Indianapolis General Education Core
A list of accepted courses in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core can be found here.
Core Communication (6 credits)
- ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.
- COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)
Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)
- College math from List A (3 credits)
- List A or List B (3 credits)
Cultural Understanding (3 credits)
- A world language course is recommended
Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)
- A laboratory science component is required
Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)
- Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
- Social Science (3 credits)
- Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)
Transfer students entering IU Indianapolis from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies
First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)
- SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
- Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis
Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.
Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:
- ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
- ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
- ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing
Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.
Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement. Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.
Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following:
- ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
- PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
- PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
- PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
- POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics
- SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats
Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.
Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory
One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.
Arts and Humanities (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- American Studies (AMST)
- American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
- Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
- Communication Studies (COMM-R, excluding COMM-R 110, and COMM-T only)
- East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
- English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
- English Literature (ENG-L)
- Film Studies (FILM)
- Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
- German (GER) excluding World Language courses
- History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS)
- Museum Studies (MSTD)
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies (REL)
- Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) excluding WGSS-W 105
- World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)
Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement
100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines
- Africana Studies (AFRO)
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Communication Studies (COMM-C and COMM-M only)
- Economics (ECON)
- English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
- Folklore (FOLK)
- Geography (GEOG)
- Global and International Studies (INTL)
- History (HIST) only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
- Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
- Latino Studies (LATS)
- Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) excluding MHHS-M 201
- Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
- Psychology (PSY)
- Sociology (SOC)
- Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)
World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits) - This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:
- Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
- Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
- passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or
- completing a third or fourth-year course1
- Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
- Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114.
- Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list:
- ANTH-A 104: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
- CLAS-C 213: Sport and Competition in the Ancient World
- EALC-E 232: China Past and Present: Culture in Continuing Evolution
- ENG-L 245: (The Empire Writes Back) Intro to Caribbean Literature
- GEOG-G 130: World Geography
- HIST-H 108: Perspectives on the World to 1800
- HIST-H 109: Perspectives on the World since 1800
- HIST-H 113: History of Western Civilization I
- HIST-H 114: History of Western Civilization II
- INTL-I 100: Intro to International Studies
- LATS-L 228: An Interdisciplinary Look at U.S. Latino/a Identities
- REL-R 212: Comparative Religions
- Non-English native speaker with approved waiver.
Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding.
1 Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’
Advanced Courses
Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.
Major Requirements (33 credits)
Required Legal Specialty Courses (15 credits)
- POLS-Y 211: Introduction to Law
- POLS-Y 221: Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals
- POLS-Y 222: Litigation for Paralegals
- POLS-Y 223: Litigation for Paralegals II (prerequisite: POLS-Y 222)
- POLS-Y 232: Professional Responsibility for Paralegals
Elective Legal Specialty Courses(12 elective credits)
selected from the following Political Science department courses (POLS-Y 211 is a prerequisite for all courses):
- POLS-P 324: Property Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 325: Contract Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 326: Tort Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 327: Criminal Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 328: Family Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 329: Estate Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 330: Bankruptcy Law for Paralegals
- POLS-P 333: Business Associations for Paralegals
- POLS-Y 480: Undergraduate Readings in Political Science
- POLS-P 485: Field Experience in Paralegals
Optional Elective Courses
Students have the option of selecting up to two of these on-line technology courses to count toward the 12 elective credits
- INFO-I 330: Legal and Social Informatics of Security
- INFO-I 350: Foundations in Legal Informatics
- INFO-I 410: Electronic Discovery
- INFO-I 470: Litigation support Systems and Courtroom Presentation
- NEWM-N 480: Technology and the Law
Perspectives Elective (3 elective credits)
selected from the following SLA and SPEA department courses
- POLS-Y 304: Constitutional Law
- POLS-Y 305: Constitutional Rights and Liberties
- POLS-Y 320: Judicial Politics
- HIST-A 421: American Legal History
- PHIL-P 383: Philosophy of Law
- PSY-B 375: Psychology and the Law
- SPEA-V 408: Community and the Constitution
- POLS-Y 367: International Law
- POLS-Y 380/WOST-W 300: Women in the Law
- BUS-L 203: Commercial Law
- SPEA-V 376: Law and Public Policy
Senior Capstone Requirement(3 credits)
- POLS-P 431: Advanced Legal Writing for Paralegals
Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.
Dual Degree Advantage
The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts. Both degrees must be completed at the same time.
