The plan listed below is designed to provide suggestions for sequencing your major courses, but there are also other ways to sequence most majors. This plan is meant to provide aid in early, provisional planning. Please consult with your academic advisor to make strategic academic decisions about which courses to take each semester.
Sample Four-Year Plan: Double Major: Criminal Justice Studies (BS), Law & Society Concentration + Political Science & International Relations (BS) w/ Legal Studies Minor
FALL - Semester 1
JUST 205 Intro to CJ Studies
POL 161: Am Nat’l Gov’t/CJST Elective - Interdisciplinary
TRU 100: Truman Symposium
TRU 110 OR TRU 130
ENG 190: WACT
SPRING - Semester 2
JUST 307: Law & Society
POL Elective/CJST Elective - Interdisciplinary
Arts & Hum + IC Dialogues coursework
COMM 170: Public Speaking
STEM Dialogues - Math
FALL - Semester 3
CJST Elective w/ JUST prefix
POL 250: International Relations
POL BS requirement
STEM w/ lab Dialogues
STATS Perspective
Elementary Foreign Language
SPRING - Semester 4
JUST 305: Criminal Law
POL 300: Methodology
Legal Studies Minor Elective (non JUST/POL)*
Elementary Foreign Language
Arts & Hum + IC Dialogues coursework
FALL - Semester 5
JUST 331 Criminology Theory
JUST 4XX: Wrongful Convictions
POL 310: Comparative Politics
POL 344: Public Administration
SPRING - Semester 6
JUST 400: Constitutional Law: Limits on LE
CJST Elective w/ JUST prefix
POL 398: Political Thought
POL elective/CJST Elective - Interdisciplinary
JINS
FALL - Semester 7
CJST Elective w/ JUST prefix
POL 460: Capstone
POL elective/CJST Elective - Interdisciplinary
Arts & Hum Dialogues coursework*
STEM Dialogues
SPRING - Semester 8
JUST Senior Capstone
CJST Elective w/ JUST prefix
POL 410: Advanced Public Policy
POL BS requirement
Free Elective
* = potential for double counting; eg: PHRE 187 Logic or PHRE 188 Ethics would double count for Legal Studies minor and Arts & Hum perspective; SOAN 260 - Social Institutions and SOAN 265 - Structured Inequalities will double count for Legal Studies minor and JUST tier 1 unrestricted elective, to name a few possibilities.
The Dialogues curriculum requires a certain number of courses/credit hours in the following Perspectives: Social, Arts and Humanities, STEM, Communications, and Statistics. The exact number of courses a student will be required to take during their undergraduate career varies individually according to the credit transferred in.
Department Chair: Please contact the Center for Academic Excellence with any updates to the plan above. Rev. 5-3-23
This is a sample course sequence to illustrate class offerings for this major. The Office of the Registrar is responsible for certifying completion of degree requirements based on requirements specified in Truman's Official Catalog.