Global Education and Field Study

Washington D.C. - Career Catalyst - Movement Lawyering

The Washington Monument

BLOCK 6 - SPRING 2027

GS222: Movement Lawyering

WASHINGTON, D. C.

In collaboration with Georgetown University Law School Immigration Clinic (Center for Applied Legal Studies - CALS), this Career Catalyst Block course will introduce students to contemporary immigration law and policy emphasizing the issues of immigrant detention and deportation. During the first two weeks of the course at Colorado College, we will consider contemporary sociological work on immigration and review pertinent immigration law and policy concepts required for the project work at Georgetown. Then we will connect theory to practice, spending the last week and one half embedded with CALS where students will be exposed to public interest legal work emphasizing collaboration with policy and community-based organizations (referred to as “movement lawyering”). Learning from and working in partnership with center attorneys and law students affiliated with the center, students will engage in group work and file "pro se" complaints about detention conditions based on interviews with immigrants in detention and research. Students will meet with a number of immigration policy organizations based in Washington D.C., observe immigration court, and meet with local congressional offices if possible. The course will end with final project work while in Washington D.C.

Course is led by Prof. Eric Popkin

Course Info

This course is OPEN for new applications

Financial Info

How to Apply or Withdraw

Course Expectations

Heightened Physical & Psychological Requirements for All Study Away: Study Away or Abroad can be a very different experience than an on-campus course, requiring both physical and mental adjustments which may not be typical for your on-campus experience. This includes requirements for physical activity such as more extensive physical movement (walking, touring, extended sedentary time during travel, etc.), requirements to manage luggage, often on uneven terrain such as cobblestone streets or buildings without elevators, or locations with limited medical facilities, potential extremes of weather and temperature.

Housing options are also significantly different from an on-campus experience. Some programs will use family homestays while others will require students live in pairs, triples, and quads. Travel is also inherently a stressful alteration to your normal routines, with greater flexibility, adaptability and resilience required, whether it is dealing with distinct cultures, language differences, feelings of “otherness” or lack of belonging, or simply greater ambiguity and unfamiliarity with surroundings.

We recommend that all students consider these realities of study away and abroad as they consider programs. Below we will list any known expectations which the faculty have identified for their specific course.

Expectations for Study on this Program: Students will be working with immigrant populations and the course can be emotionally draining and intense due to exposure to immigrant detention conditions, individual stories of immigrants in detention which can be intense (sometime violence including sexual/gender based violence is discussed. Students also need to be flexible as it is very likely that conditions will change in the next year and access to detention centers may not be possible. In that case, we will coordinate other projects including more intensive immigration court watch projects, etc

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Washington D.C. - Career Catalyst - Movement Lawyering

BLOCK 6 - SPRING 2027

GS222: Movement Lawyering

WASHINGTON, D. C.