Applications for Study Abroad 2024 will open January 16, 2024. Apply early, as spots are limited.
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2024 Study Abroad Program Calendar
Planning for Study Abroad 2024 in Prague is underway, and students can save the date: May 24, 2024, to June 21, 2024.
Features of last year’s Study Abroad trip to Prague included a group visit to the High Court in Prague; a meeting at the Havel & Partners law firm; a trip to Terezin, a WWII concentration camp; a boat tour along the Vltava River, and many more. Students were also able to travel to many cities in the Czech Republic and nearby countries.
Contact studyabroad@stcl.edu with questions or to express your interest in the upcoming trip.
COURSE LIST – PRAGUE SUMMER 2024:
- Global Lawyering Seminar by Professor Katerina Lewinbuk
- International Cultural Heritage Law by Professor Derek Fincham
- Law of Armed Conflict by Professor Matthew Festa
- Comparative Oil & Gas Law by Professor Christopher Kulander
Any enrolled STCL online student who wishes to participate remotely will need to email studentengagement@stcl.edu and request the link.
MORNING CLASSES: 9 – 10:50 a.m.
International Cultural Heritage Law (by Prof. Derek Fincham) – 2 credit hours
This course introduces cultural heritage in international law, exploring the intersection of art and law caused by the movement and preservation of material cultural heritage. It covers how law, both domestic and international, addresses stolen art, looted archaeological items, underwater wrecks, and museum collections. It will highlight art protection in armed conflicts and the legal tools preventing intentional destruction and looting of ancient cultures.
OR
Law of Armed Conflict (by Prof. Matt Festa) – 2 credit hours
This course provides an overview of the legal framework and principles governing the actions of State and non-state actors that are engaged in an armed conflict. It will consider legal issues from the perspective of States, international and domestic courts, and the individual, with a special emphasis on our present location in Europe. The course is highly interactive and will follow a discussion format with assigned readings.
AFTERNOON CLASSES: 11 a.m. -12:50 p.m.
Global Lawyering Seminar (by Prof. Katerina Lewinbuk) – 2 credit hours
This course is a collaborative research seminar that is designed to foster an in-depth study of legal issues related to comparative & global lawyering. In the course, students will engage in open dialogues about the global & comparative issues in legal ethics and profession and the role, image, and regulation of lawyers in different countries and legal systems. Additionally, the course will allow each student to learn how to design and implement a major research project, which will culminate in a paper of publishable quality with supporting analysis and appropriate citation.
OR
Comparative Oil & Gas Law (by Prof. Chris Kulander) – 2 credit hours
The course examines the laws, legal issues, and principal contracts utilized in the international oil and gas business. The class will survey: ownership of mineral rights internationally, the role of the National Oil Company (NOC) and government regulators, international legal due diligence, political and other risks associated with international investments, the forms and structure of host government agreements granting the rights to explore and exploit oil and gas, the forms and structure of the principle contracts used in the business, an examination of available industry model contract forms, and extraterritorial reach of certain U.S. laws applicable to the business, including anticorruption laws, trade sanctions and export restrictions. The focus of the course is to provide practical knowledge of international oil and gas legal issues in contracts by analyzing model clauses found within pertinent instruments and contracts.
Course: Law of Armed Conflict
Matthew Festa is a Professor at the South Texas College of Law – Houston, where he teaches property, land use, state and local government, and military and national security law. He has served in private practice, academia, and government, including service as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate and as a professor at the Army JAG School, for students from both the U.S. military and from a worldwide scope of international partners. Professor Festa is a leading scholar in land use law, and also has served as an expert teacher, author, and advisor for the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense in International Humanitarian Law.
Course: International Cultural Heritage Law
Derek Fincham is a Professor at South Texas College of Law – Houston. His research interests include art law, heritage theft, antiquities looting, and repatriation. He received his BA from Kansas University, JD from Wake Forest, and PhD in Cultural Heritage law from the University of Aberdeen, King’s College. He serves on the Editorial boards of the International Journal of Cultural Property and the Santander Art and Culture Law Review. He has been cited by the New York Times, Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, NPR, the BBC, and several other news outlets on art and antiquities related issues.
Course: Comparative Oil & Gas Law
Christopher Kulander teaches at the South Texas College of Law – Houston where he teaches courses covering oil and gas law, domestic energy law, and property. In addition, he teaches International Energy Law at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania, as International Lecturer. He is an editor on the Białostockie Studia Prawnicze [Legal Studies Journal of Bialystok, Poland] and served as a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania in 2019. He is licensed in Texas and New Mexico. Before law school, he received his B.S. in geology and M.S. in geophysics from Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, and his Ph.D. in geophysics (petroleum seismology) from Texas A&M University, after which he worked for the U.S. Geological Survey as a geophysicist.
Course: Global Lawyering Seminar
Katerina Lewinbuk is a Professor of Law & Director of International Programs at the South Texas College of Law – Houston where she teaches professional responsibility, torts, global lawyering seminar, deposition skills and mindful lawyering courses. She is a double-Fulbright Senior Specialist grant recipient (Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and Facultad Libre Derecho de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico) and she has taught and presented in different law schools in Ireland, Turkey, Republic of Georgia, and United Kingdom, just to name a few. Professor Lewinbuk has also served as Legal Research & Writing Program Director and taught at the International Law Institute in Washington, D.C. Prior to teaching, she was a practicing attorney at the Chicago office of Baker & McKenzie law firm and is currently licensed to practice law in Illinois, Texas, and Washinton, D.C.