At Syracuse University, there are dozens of upper-division undergraduate courses on law-related topics offered in history, philosophy, political science, sociology, and other disciplines. Yet there has been no lower-division course that is devoted to the study of law itself. Until now.

Building on IJPM’s record of interdisciplinary legal education, Elements of Law introduces lower-division undergraduates to law and legal institutions, and prepares them for the further study of legal topics.

Elements of Law has its own identifying prefix: Law in the Liberal Arts (“LLA”). The university created the LLA prefix because law intersects with virtually every part of the curriculum. The ubiquity of law among undergraduate course offerings reflects the fact that law touches all aspects of life. We use law to resolve disputes, plan projects, analyze problems, defend rights, formulate policy, and advance reform. Elements of Law furnishes students with the intellectual wherewithal to understand law and its great diversity of applications.

Elements of Law simultaneously satisfies three separate requirements in the College of Arts & Sciences Liberal Arts Core: Social Science Divisional Requirement, Writing Intensive Requirement, and Critical Reflections Requirement.

Elements of Law is now in its sixth year. For the Fall 2021 syllabus, click on the following link: Elements of Law Syllabus.