Gannon University, Two Year Curriculum

GANNON UNIVERSITY PRE-LAW Two Year Curriculum

Program Director: Bernadette Agresti, MS

Advisory Board: Atty. Ernest DiSantis; Atty. Lee C. Fuller; Atty. Gary H. Nash, Atty. Gwen Ralph, Atty. Joseph Steele; Atty. James Vogel

Aims and Objectives:

The Association of American Law Schools recommends that a Pre-Law Program should be concerned with the development of basic skills and insights fundamental to the later attainment of legal competence. The quality of education called for should include:

comprehension and expression in word;
critical understanding of the human institutions and values with which the law deals; and
creative power in thinking.

According to the Association: "The development of these fundamental capacities is not the monopoly of any one subject-matter area, department or division. Rather, their development is the result of a highly individualized process pursued with high purpose and intensive intellectual effort by persons with at least a reasonable degree of native intelligence. Perhaps the most important variable ingredient of a proper climate for this process is the quality of undergraduate instruction. Certainly, it is not any particular course or combination of courses. Shortly stated, what the law schools seek in the entering students is not accomplishment in mere memorization but accomplishment in understanding, the capacity to think for themselves, and the ability to express their thoughts with clarity and force."

At Gannon University individuals expressing an interest in Pre-Law are initially placed in a sequence of courses in their Freshman and Sophomore years which introduce them to many of the major fields within Gannon. During this period the student, in consultation with the Director of the Pre-Law Program, is encouraged to select a field of concentration and to plan a course of studies which seems best suited to his or her individual interest and attitudes and to the fulfillment of the objectives of the Pre-Law Program.

Students from any major may elect to pursue a Minor in Pre-Law Studies consisting in 18 credit hours of approved courses selected from Pre-Law and Cognate fields.

Course Descriptions:

LP 101/HX 101: Pre-Law Orientation

An introduction to Gannon University and the Pre-Law Program.

LP 111: Introduction to Law in Society

Introduction to legal institutions and processes; evolution of the American legal system; major substantive areas of law; legal reasoning and the adversarial process; and, the role of attorneys and courts in American society.

LP 301: Legal Analysis and Persuasion

Legal analysis and persuasion will introduce the student to the fundamentals of legal thinking, including the critical examination of case law, statutory law and other written materials. Applying this legal analysis, students will learn to persuade a targeted audience in both written and oral forms. Classroom exercises include briefs, mock appellate arguments and/or mock trial.

Freshman Year
Pre-Law Orientation
Liberal Studies
Modern Foreign Language
Political Science
Sociology or Psychology
Introduction to Law in Society
Credits
0
15
6
6
3
3
Sophomore Year
Liberal Studies
Liberal Studies/Science
Math
Fundamentals of Speech or Introduction P.C.s
Economics or Psychology or Sociology
Cognates
Elective
Credits
9
3
3
3
6
6
3

Gannon University, University Square ~ Erie, PA 16541-0001 Toll Free: 1-800-GANNON-U Office of Admissions: (814) 871-7240 Webpage design by Marvin L. Richardson - Last updated 03/31/98