Course overview
From the outset of their careers, lawyers will occupy roles that call upon them to influence and persuade people, engage in difficult conversations, learn from mistakes, and interact effectively and equitably with people of different backgrounds, races, and identities. The current crises require them to navigate these everyday interactions in particularly challenging times that demand the ability to address problems under conditions of uncertainty, to navigate conflict and change, to strategize and innovate, and to find novel ways to connect with people (including virtually). These challenges require lawyers to cultivate presence, awareness, resilience, and racial literacy. The capacities required by the current crises add up to leadership as we define it: collaborating effectively to achieve common goals.
This course will cultivate participants' leadership capacities at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and systemic levels. It will ground students' learning in the issues and problems that matter most to them. Students will have an opportunity to develop and advance personal learning goals that will improve their capacity to interact effectively in groups, give and receive feedback, build constructive work relationships, navigate new and challenging environments, achieve collective aims, and use their law degrees to have impact in diverse practice fields. The course will equip students with tools and insights that they will practice in class and bring with them into any setting where they strive to have a positive impact; facilitate group interactions that supply concrete, real-time feedback about how students interact with themselves and with others; and provide them with skills prized by public and private employers alike, enabling new lawyers to hit the ground running. Students will also have the opportunity to receive individualized feedback and peer-to-peer coaching. The course participants are encouraged to build community among the broader CLS faculty, staff, students, and alumni interested in lawyer-leadership. Students will earn five experiential learning credits.
The class will meet in whole class sessions, weekly lab groups, and two day-long retreats taking place in January or early February. All of the sessions will be highly interactive and experiential. Admission to the course is by application. The application period will begin with the Experiential Learning application process. Click here to complete the course application, or copy and paste https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeU56IrYyDYIjDK1hNHsfjCvWbyf0Q7QI1fpHjoZj_iho8eyw/viewform into your browser. Students may be asked to participate in an interview. We will consider applications on a rolling basis until the course is full. A course overview, along with last year’s syllabus, is available upon request. Students with questions about the course or the admissions process should email Professor Susan Sturm at [email protected] or Jasmine McFarlane-White at [email protected].
This course will cultivate participants' leadership capacities at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and systemic levels. It will ground students' learning in the issues and problems that matter most to them. Students will have an opportunity to develop and advance personal learning goals that will improve their capacity to interact effectively in groups, give and receive feedback, build constructive work relationships, navigate new and challenging environments, achieve collective aims, and use their law degrees to have impact in diverse practice fields. The course will equip students with tools and insights that they will practice in class and bring with them into any setting where they strive to have a positive impact; facilitate group interactions that supply concrete, real-time feedback about how students interact with themselves and with others; and provide them with skills prized by public and private employers alike, enabling new lawyers to hit the ground running. Students will also have the opportunity to receive individualized feedback and peer-to-peer coaching. The course participants are encouraged to build community among the broader CLS faculty, staff, students, and alumni interested in lawyer-leadership. Students will earn five experiential learning credits.
The class will meet in whole class sessions, weekly lab groups, and two day-long retreats taking place in January or early February. All of the sessions will be highly interactive and experiential. Admission to the course is by application. The application period will begin with the Experiential Learning application process. Click here to complete the course application, or copy and paste https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeU56IrYyDYIjDK1hNHsfjCvWbyf0Q7QI1fpHjoZj_iho8eyw/viewform into your browser. Students may be asked to participate in an interview. We will consider applications on a rolling basis until the course is full. A course overview, along with last year’s syllabus, is available upon request. Students with questions about the course or the admissions process should email Professor Susan Sturm at [email protected] or Jasmine McFarlane-White at [email protected].