Penn State
Lewis Katz Building, University Park, PA
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Externship Placement — Washington D.C.

Course Abbreviation: 
EXTRN 903
Credits: 
10
Credit Only: Y Anon Gr: N

The Washington semester externship will provide students with the opportunity to spend a semester in Washington, D.C. earning 10 hours of academic credit for approximately 32 hours of supervised work. Students will work in one of several selected and approved governmental or nonprofit entities.

The externship will enable students to pursue advanced training and research opportunities in a particular field beyond our curricular offerings. The areas of law will include federal criminal law, international law, federal civil regulatory agency practice and procedure, and public and private nonprofit law. Students will have the opportunity to analyze sophisticated areas of law in a real world context. In the classroom component students will analyze the legal obligations and professional responsibilities of both government lawyers and private counsel.

Students must register for Federal Regulatory and Legislative Practice Seminar (ULWR 914) – 2 credits the same semester as the Washington D.C. Externship Placement. The seminar will utilize a separation of powers analysis to examine federal regulatory and legislative practice. Topics covered will include congressional investigations, federal regulatory agency jurisdiction and procedure, and areas of federal criminal law that are most relevant to legal practice in Washington, DC. The seminar's primary focus will be those areas of Washington legal practice in which administrative and regulatory law, federal criminal law, politics, and public relations intersect to create special problems and challenges for attorneys in government and private practice. A "case study" approach will be used to analyze these topics from both perspectives, examining the legal obligations and professional responsibilities of both government lawyers and private counsel. Highlights of the course include analysis of the Watergate, ABSCA, Iran-Contra, Whitewater, and Clinton-Lewinsky scandals.

This course satisfies the experiential learning requirement.

Prerequisites: 
Faculty Approval Required.
Faculty: 
Gopal Balachandran