Stetson University in Central Florida is now accepting applications for its new Stetson University Summer Pre-Law Institute, a rigorous, six-week course in which undergraduate college students will be chosen to prepare for law school and a career in the legal field.

Students enrolled in the unique program will spend four weeks on Stetson’s DeLand, Fla., campus, taking a critical thinking course designed for pre-law students, and two weeks at the Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport/St. Petersburg in an immersion program designed to introduce students to the law school experience and the practice of law. Pre-law students, from a variety of majors, can develop their critical thinking, writing, problem-solving, and interpretation skills, preparing them for the competitive law school admissions process and creating a vision for themselves as law students and lawyers. The program will cost about $6,000, which includes campus housing. This year’s Summer Pre-Law Institute will be held June 6 to July 15.

Faculty for the program are full-time Stetson University faculty:

• Dr. Rebecca B. Watts, assistant professor of communication studies at Stetson University, earned her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. Her research interests center on the application of rhetorical theory and criticism to public culture. Her book, Contemporary Southern Identity: Community through Controversy (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), reflects her research and teaching interests in the application of rhetorical theory and criticism to understanding Southern culture specifically and public discourse in general.
• Dr. David L. Hill, associate professor of political science at Stetson University, teaches courses in the areas of American politics and research methodology. His research focus is in political behavior with a specific interest in the interaction between institutions and political participation. He has published articles in American Politics Research, Electoral Studies, State and Local Government Review, American Review of Politics, and Politics and Policy. He published the book American Voter Turnout: An Institutional Perspective (Westview Press, 2006), which explores the impact of governmental and electoral institutional arrangements on turnout in American elections. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida.
• Kirsten Davis is an associate professor of law and director of the Legal Research and Writing Program at Stetson University College of Law. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, and she writes on the topics of legal writing, law and rhetoric, professional responsibility and work/life balance. Her doctoral dissertation, in progress, focuses on the rhetorical construction of work and family issues in the regulatory context. Davis teaches Professional Responsibility and Legal Research and Writing.

To apply for the Stetson University Summer Pre-Law Institute, undergraduate college students must have at least a 3.0 GPA and have completed at least two full years of university study. Applications are now being accepted for summer 2011, with admissions beginning immediately and continuing until the program is full.

For more information and to apply online, visit: https://www.stetson.edu/artsci/prelaw/summer.php. Contacts: Dr. David Hill at [email protected], Dr. Rebecca Watts at [email protected], and Professor Kirsten Davis at [email protected]. Visit www2.stetson.edu and law.stetson.edu/.