Law school looking into possible Legal Studies minor
A Legal Studies minor which would qualify under the University of South Dakota’s College of Art and Sciences department is an idea as of right now said Angela Ericson, School of Law assistant academic dean.
Ericson said the law school and Arts and Sciences department have had little discussion on the minor or potential benefits it would bring, only that it has been proposed as an idea.
“There are some nascent ideas currently under discussion, the law school’s Legal Studies options among them,” Deborah Dodge, USD Academic Affairs director of curriculum and special projects, said. “However, nothing yet has been introduced to university level curriculum review process.”
In order for a minor to be implemented into the USD catalog, curriculum must be decided on or changed within a department. For the School of Law, since it is not a department, it would have to be approved by the school.
Emily Haddad, associate dean for academics, said the School of Law will have to determine a couple options for the minor: The minor will either need to be a stand-alone minor or use a portion of a first year of law school to complete an undergraduate degree.
“They’re trying to help students connect early on with the idea of going to law school or at least becoming more informed about the law if they are going to go into another field,” she said.
First-year and Law Honors Scholar Kody Nelson said more curriculum with law studies would help students practically, even if they were not considering law school.
“It would encompass a lot of case study material where you’d analyze old cases to help understand how to apply it to modern practices,” Nelson said. “It would also be a valuable minor to have for a job in the future.”
Interim Provost Kurt Hackemer said the idea of the Legal Studies minor is one to consider and provides benefits for USD students.
“One of the goals is to make it clearer to students that we’re a really good place to prepare for law school,” Hackemer said. “If we can find a way to do that in the context of existing degree programs, all the better.”
