Values, Law, and Policy is an interdisciplinary minor involving the Departments of Economics, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and others.

Participation in modern society requires an interdisciplinary grasp of issues. Ordinary party politics, structural changes to either state or federal government, changes in health care and insurance, alterations in property law or increased or decreased protections for racial, gender, or sexual orientation categories implicate issues of values, economics, and social interaction as well as law.

The minor in Values, Law, and Policy will provide students with an overview of the theories and analytical techniques of moral philosophy as well as the insights of economics, political science, history, and sociology on the desirability and consequences of different legal regimes, our current legal structures, and legal change.

The utility of the minor in Values, Law, and Policy (VLP) is not just the liberal arts objective of a broad education enabling full and knowledgeable participation in society, but also a sound foundation for a professional career.

The VLP minor provides a breadth of perspectives that would serve well for those students who intend to enter the legal profession or any of the professions that have a substantial interface with legal regulation. It would also provide a good background in the social sciences to enable graduate study in economics, political science, sociology, philosophy, or history.

Each student is required to take microeconomics, one course in moral or political philosophy, one course in social theory, and a choice of courses on law, ethics, or public policy.

Total Hours for Values, Law and Policy Minor, 18
A course can satisfy both a requirement of the student's major and the VLP minor. However, the total hours required by the VLP minor cannot count toward the total hours required by the major. Example: VLP minor hours (18) + major hours (usually 30) = 48 hours.

I. Basic Requirements (2 required)
ECON 3332: Microeconomic Theory
and choose one of the following:
PHIL 3350: Ethics
PHIL 3355: Political Philosophy
PHIL 3351: Contemporary Moral Issues

II. Social Science Theory (choose one of the following)
SOC 3300: Introduction to Sociological Theory
POLS 3310: Introduction to Political Theory
POLS 3343: Democratic Theory
POLS 3349: American Political Thought

III. Law and Policy
(No two courses may be selected from the same subject area [POLS, SOC, etc.] in this requirement; must select one course from the LAW category, and the other two courses from any category.)

LAW
POLS 3350: Public Law and Political Theory
POLS 3354: Law and Society
POLS 3356: Introduction to Constitutional Law
POLS 4366: Constitutional Design
SOC 3311: Sociology of Law
SOC 3313: Criminology
PHIL 3375: Law, Society, and Morality
HIST XXXX: English Legal History, American Legal History
ECON 4321: Economic Analysis of the U.S. Legal System

PUBLIC POLICY
ECON 3377: Economics of Public Finance
ECON 3386: Economics of Project Evaluation
ECON 4391: Economics and the Real World
POLS 3318: Introduction to Public Policy
POLS 3319: Politics of Social Policy

NORMATIVE COURSES
PHIL 3350: Ethics
PHIL 3351: Contemporary Moral Issues
PHIL 3354: Medical Ethics
PHIL 3355: Political Philosophy
PHIL 3358: Classics in the History of Ethics

Other courses accepted by petition and approval of program advisor.