Law and Criminal Justice Major, B.A.

The Law and Criminal Justice major at Hood College is a unique and distinctive program. The major offers two areas of study with separate objectives and goals.

The Law component offers students a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for law school and careers in the legal profession. The Criminal Justice component provides students with a challenging curriculum that examines the nexus between law enforcement, the judicial process, and the correctional system. Both focus areas are grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that is central to the liberal arts tradition. 

An internship is recommended for the Law component and is required for Criminal Justice. Past internship sites for both areas have included the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Children's Defense Fund, Maryland State's Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, Frederick County Sheriff's Office, State of Maryland Division for Parole and Probation, and private attorney offices.

 

Required for all majors:

Courses:

CJ 230	Introduction to Criminal Justice	3.0
LWPS 230	Introduction to Law	3.0
MATH 112	Applied Statistics	3.0
	or
PSY 211	Elementary Statistics	3.0
	or
PSCI 205	Methods of Political Inquiry	3.0
PHIL 221	Ethics	3.0
PSCI 307	American Constitutional Law	3.0
Total Credit Hours:		15.0

Law:

LW 300	Legal Research and Writing	3.0
LW 470	Seminar in Law	3.0
PHIL 207	Logic	3.0
PHIL 308	History of Philosophy: The Early Modern Era to the 20th Century	3.0
	or
PSCI 333	Modern Political Thought	3.0
PSCI 336	Gender and the Law	3.0
PSCI 405/PSCI 505	Civil Liberties	3.0
Total Credit Hours:		18.0

Two courses from the following:

CMA 305	Communications Law	3.0
ECON 205	Principles of Macroeconomics	3.0
HON 304	Censorship in America	3.0
PSCI 308	Criminal Law	3.0
REL 342	From Abolitionism to Human Rights	3.0
Total Credit Hours:		6.0

Criminal Justice:

CJ 300	Criminalistics	3.0
CJ 399	Internship in Criminal Justice	3.0 - 15.0
	or
LWCJ 401A	Pre-Law Clinic Seminar	3.0
	and
LWCJ 401B	Pre-Law Clinic	3.0
CJ 470	Sr Seminar in Criminal Justice	3.0
PSCI 308	Criminal Law	3.0
PSCI 302	9/11 in Global Perspective	3.0
	or
PSCI 200	Political Violence and Terrorism	3.0
SOC 215	Social Problems	3.0
Total Credit Hours:		18.0

Two courses from the following:

PSCI 336	Gender and the Law	3.0
PSY 319	Drugs & Behavior	3.0
PSY 370I	Seminar: Psychological Bases of Criminal Behavior	3.0
SOC 216	Criminology	3.0
SOC 300	Social Inequality	3.0
SOC 310	Topics in Sociology	3.0
SOC 323	Ethnicity in the United States	3.0
SOC 353	Deviance and Social Control	3.0
SOSW 217	Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice	3.0
SOSW 312	Addictions	3.0
Total Credit Hours:		6.0