Columbia's Summer Law Institute projects will naturally differ in contents, scope and duration. To ensure that students feel that they are part of a larger undertaking, the Summer Law Institute will aspire to become a place of collective learning for participating students. To this end, individual faculty members will present research and/or policy work to students in a weekly brown bag lunch. Students also will come together once a week for a pizza lunch to present to each other the projects they are working on to each other. Organization and logistics for these gatherings will be done by the Social Justice Program and the Dean of Students Office.
Potential Projects
Professors from a diverse and wide range of fields have signed up to participate, offering students the chance to collaborate on an array of fascinating projects, such as:
- Research “Contracts Between Legal Persons”
- Develop legal tools to foster the expansion of renewable energy (such as wind, solar and geothermical) and energy efficiency
- Research and assist in presenting policy recommendations to Council on Foreign Relations on deterring human rights atrocities
- Create a social justice faculty-graduate network
- Develop research for a new book “Immigration Reform: Which Way Now?”
Students should apply for announced projects of interest by sending an application to the faculty member sponsor of the project. The application should observe the deadline stipulated and include the application requirements stipulated for the project in question.
Collective Learning
Faculty members will define the exact terms of the project and select their own research students and/or teams. Each project will engage, at the discretion of the faculty member, one or more students, and on occasion more than one team of students. Faculty members will convene with students on a regular basis to discuss progress, adapt research strategies and facilitate mutual learning and cooperation among students and teams. At the faculty member’s discretion, a new graduate of the Law School, whose law firm start date has been delayed, may be retained as the research team leader.
Students will also meet regularly as a group with peers and other professors to exchange ideas and information about their respective research projects. This type of collective learning promises to be rewarding to students and professors, ultimately helping to engender the transformation of legal teaching and research in the longer term.
Eligibility and Compensation
- Participants will get paid $12.00 an hour, up to 35 hours a week
- first and second year students who have registered for Columbia funding of a summer public interest internship may apply this to finance their participation in the Summer Institute. They must register with Akua Akyea at the Social Justice Program and comply with work study regulations.
- other students may be remunerated by faculty research assistant accounts.
- recent Law School graduates may be eligible to participate as a research team leader; however, they will not be paid by Columbia Law School. They should consult with their law firms whether participation in the Summer Institute qualifies for the firm's deferral conditions prior to signing up with the faculty member.
Final Product
At the end of the program, students will have the chance to produce a tangible final project representing or culminating their work. The content of this output may differ from project to project, and may depend on the demands of the faculty member supervising the project. The output may include, for example:
- a written document such as one or more research papers
- the creation of a new information or database
- development of a website that makes accessible background information data and output of the project
- the development of a new media based course
- a workshop/conference on the project held at Columbia Law School
Students shall design and take primary responsibility for their projects, in consultation with the faculty member.
Students will obtain a certificate documenting their participation in the Summer Law Institute.
