experiential learning - Georgetown Law - Georgetown University

Poverty Law and Policy Seminar (P. Edelman)
This practicum course is a year-long seminar with a required field placement of 8 to 10 hours a week at a publicinterest
law organization that works from either a national or a local perspective on issues connected to poverty. The
subject matter of the class is the framework, history, and current issues related to American poverty.
Public Interest Advocacy: Government Regulation of Tobacco and Personal-Care Products (J. Page, M. Greenwold,
and T. Cluderay)
This practicum course focuses on regulation of tobacco and personal-care products by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In the experiential component of the course, students
work as interns with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and the Environmental Working Group (EWG)
on projects aimed at influencing the legislative or administrative processes, or on matters in litigation, under the
supervision of attorneys connected with these organizations.
Public Interest Lawyering: Access to Health Care (E. Loubier)
This course explores public interest lawyering and the critical role that safety net benefits play in assisting low-income
people access health care in the United States, focusing on Social Security disability benefits, Medicare, and
Medicaid – the key government programs that provide assistance to economically vulnerable people. The practicum
part of this course focuses on the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit and its annual open enrollment season.
Racial Discrimination in International Law (C. Vazquez )
This practicum class focuses on the work of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(CERD), of which Professor Vázquez is a member. The Committee monitors compliance with the U.N. Convention
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, descent, or
national or ethnic origin. Students in the practicum investigate the situation of the minority groups protected by
the Convention in the specific countries being scrutinized by CERD in its forthcoming session and draft a shadow
report concerning the situation of the minority groups within the relevant country.
Regulatory Advocacy: Women and the Affordable Care Act (K. Garcia)
This practicum course provides an introduction to regulatory advocacy as it pertains to the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) and women’s health. For the practicum part of the course, students work with partner
organizations to provide background research and/or draft public comments for a regulatory matter pertaining to the
ACA.
The Right to Counsel: Entitlements, Limits and the Client Experience (M. Brink)
praCtiCum CoursEs
In this practicum course, students explore the evolution and current parameters of the right to counsel, including:
when counsel must be provided; what quality guarantee, if any, the right includes; impediments to the full functioning
of the right; and efforts to expand the scope of the right. In the experiential part, students explore how the right
to counsel is experienced by those facing criminal charges by interviewing individuals who were represented by
attorneys provided at public expense.
Rule of Law Promotion and Civil Society in China: Women, the Elderly and the Demographic Consequences of
China’s One-Child Policy (N. Cantalupo)
This practicum course examines how civil society in China is being advanced under the rubric of rule of law promotion
through work with and reflection upon the activities of non-governmental organizations in China. Students in
the course work on research related to health care for the elderly, in light of a looming demographic crisis in China
precipitated in large part by three decades of the “One-Child Policy.” In the practicum component, students spend
2.5 weeks working with NGOs in either Beijing, China or Washington, D.C. researching health care issues for the
elderly.
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