LAW 6209

Cornell Prison Education Program Teaching Practicum

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

Law students will learn to teach and communicate complex legal principles and lawyering skills to individuals incarcerated in nearby prisons. Students in the Practicum will co-teach a law related course at Auburn, Cayuga, or Five Points correctional facilities, as part of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP), which offers college courses to students who are incarcerated and working toward their associates' degrees. Students will work with the professor to design a detailed law course syllabus, procure teaching materials, and teach a 2-hour class inside one of the prisons on a weekly basis. The classroom component will include reflection on prison legal issues, prison political economy, prison geography, and concepts such as prison reform and abolition, and will also include applying critical pedagogy to teaching rounds.

When Offered Spring.

Comments Law students must apply by sending a statement of interest and resume/CV to Professor Mizutani at jm2445@cornell.edu by the end of the fall semester add/drop period in order to enroll in the Practicum for Spring 2024. Please indicate whether or not you have access to a car in your statement. Due to the logistics of teaching in prisons, accepted students will be required to go through a Department of Corrections background check, submit a negative TB test result and proof of Covid vaccination, and students may have to return a week early from winter break to attend a mandatory Department of Corrections orientation. Please be aware that this Practicum does not count towards the New York State 50-hour pro bono requirement, but it does count towards experiential credit. This course has both a classroom component and a community teaching component. Students must travel to and from a correctional facility on a weekly basis with their co-teaching partner, at their own expense.

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