Summer in France Academics

Learn about the courses and faculty in the Summer in France program.

Courses

Courses for Summer 2026:

European Union Law (1 credit)
Araceli Turmo, Professor of Law at the University of Nantes

The European Union has become a formidable trading bloc, and the gross national product of the European Union countries will soon rival that of the United States. As international trade increases, it is imperative that U.S. lawyers understand how the community is organized.

In this general introductory course, students explore the basic institutions and principles of the European Union as well as its procedures. The course looks also at the political reasons behind the creation of the European Union, and the impact of expansion to the former Soviet bloc countries of Eastern Europe. We will also look at the stresses and strains of recent years, and in particular the EU’s reaction to the nationalistic and authoritarian trends in some of the Member States.

Change and Development in European Legal Systems (1 credit)

Derek Wilson, Lecturer, the Faculty of Law at the University of Nantes. Solicitor, Scotland
Craig French, Legal Advisor, Scottish Government. Law Tutor, University of Glasgow. Solicitor, Scotland

In the first part of the course we will look at the major disruption being caused both to the United Kingdom and the European Union by the referendum in June 2016 for the UK to leave the European Union in 2019 (Brexit). We will examine the reasons for this populist vote, and the impact it is having on the hithertofore stable legal and constitutional system of the United Kingdom, and even the threat it poses to the continued unity of the Kingdom.

The second topic to be addressed is that of the legal systems of European countries, which have been subject to pressure to change and converge in the context of the European Union. In this course we will look at how certain issues are developing in the legal systems of Scotland (which is a mixed system, based partly on English law traditions, and partly on Continental law tradition) and France. For example, we will compare the written constitution of France with the largely non-written UK constitution, and will examine the further devolution of legislative power in Scotland in the light of the 2014 independence referendum; increasing legislative power in Wales; and the devolution of power to the Conseil Régionaux in France. We will also examine other topical questions in the various justice systems.

European Migration Law (1 credit)
Araceli Turmo, Professor of Law at the University of Nantes

The course will focus on the core issues of European migration law and the specific challenges that arise from the quasi-federal nature of the European Union. Through comparison with the U.S. legal system, students will analyze the similarities and the fundamental differences between the two systems.

The course will explore the European Union’s reaction to current migratory patterns in Europe, both those that exist within the EU and those that originate outside. We will examine the key distinction between the right to migrate granted to EU citizens and the status of nationals of other countries. A particular focus will be placed on the EU’s asylum policy, which is at the heart of many political and social issues related to migrations into the EU.

Global Issues in Criminal Law (2 credits)
Professor Ellen L. Yee, Drake Law School

The course will focus on international and transnational criminal law because practicing lawyers are likely to encounter these areas. The main subjects will be transnational criminal law, terrorism, and genocide. Issues of jurisdiction, which are generally not addressed in detail in a first year criminal law course, will be incorporated into the analysis of these subjects. The course will also explore some aspects of comparative criminal law. For example, it will examine how other systems view issues such as criminal intent, actus reus, and defenses by discussing the international tribunals’ treatment of the genocide cases.

International Negotiations (1 credit)
Professor Nickole Miller, Drake Law School

This course provides students with an experiential, simulation-based introduction to the theory and practice of negotiations through an international lens. Students will learn how to prepare for, conduct, and achieve success as government or private lawyers in international negotiations through simulations and other discrete lawyering exercises. The course explores the unique cross-border elements in international negotiation such as heightened information asymmetries brought on by differences in culture, language, political, and value systems, as well as the interaction with foreign laws and international treaties. Students will have numerous opportunities to experiment with a variety of negotiating styles and to engage in rigorous peer and self-reflection to improve students’ international negotiation skills and cultural competencies.

Faculty

Drake Law School Faculty

Ellen Yee, Director of International Programs; Professor of Law
515-271-1914 ellen.yee@drake.edu
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Professor Ellen L. Yee is the Director of International Programs.  She teaches in the areas of Criminal Law, Professional Responsibility, Psychiatry and the Law, and Trial Advocacy. She is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Minnesota Law School where she was an Associate Managing Editor for the Minnesota Law Review. Before coming to Drake, Professor Yee was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Florida State University College of Law and a Deputy District Attorney in Marin County, California. Her research addresses issues at the intersection of evidence and criminal procedure.

Nickole Miller, Director of the Joan and Lyle Middleton Center for Children's Rights, Professor of Law

Professor Nickole Miller is an Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Children’s Rights Clinic and Middleton Center for Children’s Rights at Drake Law School. Her practice, advocacy, and teaching focus on improving legal representation and outcomes for children and youth in the juvenile justice, child welfare, and immigration systems. Professor Miller received her B.A. from Columbia University and graduated cum laude from DePaul University College of Law with a certificate in Public Interest Law. She is a national leader in experiential education and serves on the Executive Board for the Clinical Legal Education Association.

Other Faculty

Renaud Colson

Professor Renaud Colson is an Associate Professor at the Nantes University Faculty of Law and Honorary Lecturer at Cardiff University. He holds a Master’s degree in legal theory from the Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles, a Master’s degree in private law, and a PhD in legal history from the University of Nantes. He is currently also serving as the Director of the French Institute of Pondicherry, India.  He was previously British Academy Visiting Fellow at Cardiff University (2008), Marie Curie Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence (2011-2013), and he has held visiting positions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study (New Delhi, 2016), the University Institute on Addiction in Montréal (2018), the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (2019) and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (2021).His doctoral thesis on the history of the judicial function in France was published as a book: La fonction de juger: Etude historique et positive (LGDJ, 2006). Since then, he has published on a variety of subjects including comparative law, drug policy and criminology.

Craig French

Craig French is a practicing Solicitor with the Scottish Government in Edinburgh, Scotland. His current position is head of the Equalities and Criminal Justice Division in the Scottish Government Legal Directorate. He advises Government Ministers and senior officials on a wide range of constitutional and administrative law matters. Having been with the Scottish Government for over two decades, he has considerable experience of the Devolution Settlement in Scotland and public law issues, as well as the operation of the Scottish legal system. He is also a Senior Tutor at the University of Glasgow, teaching Human Rights Law and Practice on the post-graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

Araceli Turmo

Professor Araceli Turmo is a Professor of European law and Vice-Dean for international relations at the University of Nantes Faculty of Law. She earned her doctoral degree at Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris 2) and a Diploma in Legal Studies at the University of Oxford. Before joining the University of Nantes, she taught at Sciences Po Paris as well as the Universities of Geneva, Paris 2 and Paris-Est. Her research focuses on European procedural law and European criminal law, fundamental rights and the rights of European citizens. 

Derek Wilson

Professor Derek Wilson is a lecturer in law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Nantes. He served as the Global Practitioner in Residence at Drake University in Fall 2014. He was admitted by Order of Scotland's Supreme Court in Edinburgh to the Law Society of Scotland's Roll of Solicitors and as a Notary Public in 1991. Mr. Wilson conducted both civil and criminal cases, from the highest to the lowest of Scotland's Courts, until he moved to France to take his current position. Mr. Wilson has participated in comparative legal research projects on British and European Law.