During the fall semester, students taking this course should register for three credits of fieldwork under the course titled Public Policy Fieldwork or they should enroll in one of the CUA clinical courses.
This course engages students in intensive research and writing on issues of public policy and in reflective study of professional issues and policy issues in their accompanying fieldwork or clinical work. It is required for third-year day students in the Law and Public Policy Program Evening students in LPP may take this course during the third or fourth year. The course is open to other students if space is available.
In consultation with the instructor, each student selects either a live-client clinical course or a placement at which to do uncompensated legal work under the supervision of an attorney at a nonprofit organization, a government office (executive, legislative, or judicial branch of federal, state, or local government), a law firm, or a corporation. Placements and clinical courses should involve the students in the development or implementation of law and/or public policy and must be approved by the LPP director. Students may enroll in a fieldwork or clinical experience in the spring semester as well as the fall. Students seeking credit for fieldwork should enroll in “Legal Externships” during the fall semester of this course. For additional information about the externship program, refer to the section on "Legal Externships" on page 40.
In this seminar, the students complete readings and participate in reflective oral and written dialogue designed to advance their professional development and to prepare them for public law careers. They are assigned to submit several reflective essays about their fieldwork or clinical work. This course requires a qualifying course paper that fulfills one half of the upper-level writing requirement. Refer to Academic Rule X — Writing Requirement and Directed Research. Students also prepare and present 25- to 30-page research papers (which go through preliminary work plus three drafts) on topics of their choice related to the policy issues that arise in clinical or fieldwork.
Reflective study of field experience will be the central focus of the seminar during the fall. Topic selection and preliminary research for the papers will occur also during the fall semester. The spring seminar will focus principally on the research and writing of the papers. Students will receive two credits for the fall seminar and two credits in the spring.