The basis of professional success and good citizenship in law and in other professions, such as business, psychology, and medicine, is having strong critical thinking, reasoning and ethical decision-making skills. The foundation of successful discovery and innovation is the ability to use these skills to identify or predict issues in society, discover potential solutions through proper analysis an
d reasoning, and provide an innovative solution that fully addresses the issue(s). The purpose of this interdisciplinary GE course is to provide students with a critical analysis of the intersection between law, reasoning and morality in order to equip them with the skills to manage and resolve personal and professional issues. Specifically, with respect to law, critical thinking, logic, reasoning, and ethical decision-making skills are the hallmark of a successful legal professional. A secondary purpose is to provide students with an understanding of how law is an important aspect of the issues and discoveries faced in other disciplines such as science, business, and technology. For example, a business person wanting to set up a new, innovative company needs to understand the legal requirements for setting up and running the company as well as selling its innovative products and services. Similarly, a future scientist who has a new discovery and wants to sell it to the marketplace needs to understand and apply the laws related to product safety, intellectual property, and product liability. This course will help students have an interdisciplinary understanding of issues so as to foster future discovery and innovation in their chosen fields. The learning activities in this course consist of short lectures, group activities, internet-based surveys, etc.
