Study Abroad

Professor Bernard K. Freamon

Professor Bernard K. Freamon is a published author and holds a J.S.D. from Columbia University School of Law, a LL.M. from Columbia University School of Law, a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Wesleyan University. Professor Freamon is a full time faculty member at Roger Williams University School of Law. This 2-credit course aims to provide a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the pervasive scourge of slavery and human trafficking in Cape Verde, examining its historical roots and contemporary manifestations, and situating it within the broader transatlantic context of the global slave trade. The course will also shed light on the interconnection between Cape Verde and Bristol, Rhode Island, and their historical ties to the slave trade. Professor Freamon's extensive experience and expertise in study abroad, human trafficking, and slavery make him an invaluable asset in studying the slave trade and its current impact on Cape Verde today.

Professor Freamon is also Roger Williams University School of Law's on-site Director. He is a highly qualified and experienced professional who brings a unique perspective to the Cape Verde Study Abroad Program. He served as the director of Seton Hall Law School’s Cairo Summer program for eleven years, the first and only American Bar Association-approved study abroad program in the Arabic-speaking Middle East. With an enrollment of 30 to 40 law students each year, the program employed faculty from various American Bar Association-accredited law schools and the United Nations. In addition to his directorial role in Cairo, Professor Freamon also directed the Zanzibar Winter program at Seton Hall and, in that program, he taught an innovative course on slavery and human trafficking. Moreover, he currently serves as the President of the Bristol Middle Passage Port Marker Project in Bristol, Rhode Island, which has received approval to erect a memorial in Bristol’s Independence Park to the African and Indigenous victims and survivors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.Professor Freamon’s diverse experience and expertise will be invaluable in enhancing this program and providing students with an immersive and meaningful learning experience.

Professor Jonathan Gutoff

Professor Jonathan Gutoff is a tenured faculty member at Roger Williams University School of Law since 1997. He is one of the nation’s top experts in piracy and maritime law issues. As a highly regarded scholar and frequent speaker at regional, national, and international conferences, Professor Gutoff brings invaluable expertise on piracy law. His 1-credit course on piracy law will not only provide students with an in-depth understanding of this complex area of law, but also examine its connection to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Cape Verde’s role as a pivotal location in this historical trade. With Professor Gutoff's guidance, students will be able to explore how piracy and maritime law have impacted Cape Verde's cultural and socio-legal environment, and how it continues to shape the region's legal framework today.

Piracy

In this course students will look at the history of piracy and legal efforts, national and international, to deal with it. Included will be a look at premodern piracy in Europe, the "Golden-Age of Piracy" in the early 18th Century and its suppression, the rise of piracy in the Caribbean and Mediterranean which were intertwined with movements of national liberation in Latin America and Greece, and the growth of piracy in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, especially in the Straits of Malacca, the Horn of Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of West Africa. Some technical maritime-law concepts will be discussed, but no prior knowledge will be assumed.

Slavery, The Slave Trades, and Human Trafficking

This course will introduce students to the federal, selected state, and international laws and policies now available to combat human trafficking and modern-day forms of slavery. The course will begin with a brief examination of the histories of the Transatlantic Slave Trades and abolitionism. It will then review the adoption of U.S. anti-slavery and peonage laws, showing how those laws proved insufficient to curb modern slavery and trafficking, such failure forming the backdrop for the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. The course will then conduct an in-depth analysis of federal laws prohibiting sex and labor trafficking crimes and consider how such laws are used to investigate and prosecute those offenses. A brief investigation of selected state laws as well as the problem of migrant smuggling will also be conducted. The last part of the course will examine the international anti-trafficking legal framework established under the U.N. Palermo Protocol and consider whether global efforts to implement the Protocol have had any success. 

The methodology employed in the course will examine each topic using the lenses of legal history, analytical jurisprudence, and criminal law theory. The focus will be on the criminal law provisions of the TVPA as it is logistically impossible to cover the foreign policy, immigration, and social service aspects of that law in a course like this and our concern will be the implications of the TVPA for criminal theory and practice. After tracing the evolution of the legal definition(s) and social, religious, and economic conceptions of slavery and the rise of anti-slavery thought, the course will explore the advent of legislative and prosecutorial recognition of the alleged new crime of “human trafficking” and examine how the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol have been interpreted and applied by the courts in cases involving allegations of human trafficking and slavery. There will be a guest lecture from a representative of the government of the Republic of Cabo Verde detailing Cabo Verde’s role in the slave trade and the current government’s efforts to combat modern day slavery and human trafficking. By the end of the course, students should come away with a good understanding of the major legal, jurisprudential, public policy, and practical law enforcement issues involved in the struggle against modern-day slavery and human trafficking. This will include a close examination of the role of the internet in sex and labor trafficking.

To be eligible to participate in the Roger Williams University School of Law Cape Verde Study Abroad Program, a student must be enrolled in and be in good standing as a full-time or part-time student in the 2L, 3L, or 4L years at an ABA-approved law school or its equivalent. 

1. Complete and mail or email the registration form and a 250-word personal statement to: 

   Roger Williams University School of Law
   International Programs
   10 Metacom Avenue, Bristol, RI 02809-5171
   Phone: 401-254-4539
   Fax: 401-254-4640
   Email: bfreamon@rwu.edu
   
   Or apply online: Apply Here
   
   Students from schools other than Roger Williams School of Law are also required to have a letter of good standing submitted directly from their Law School dean or registrar to the address or email address posted.

2. Enclose a $350 registration fee payable to Roger Williams University School of Law or arrange to make an electronic payment of $350.00, as allowed by the program website. This sum will be applied to tuition if admitted or will be refunded if enrollment is denied. Upon notification of admission, the registration fee will be forfeited if the applicant fails to attend for any reason.
    
3. The admission decision will be made based on the evaluation of the student’s personal statement, GPA, and suitability for participation in a study abroad program. If a student is admitted to the Cape Verde Study Abroad Program, the student will receive a packet of information outlining more of the program details, including information about passports, meeting time and place for commencement of the program, travel, vaccinations, entry to the Republic of Cabo Verde, dormitory accommodations, meals, program participation, class schedules, grading, standards of conduct, excursions, and clothing.
    
4. The expected enrollment in the program is 20 students.
    
5. Acceptance notices will be mailed on a rolling basis. Accepted students must pay all tuition and fees by April 20 or have financial aid arrangements made and confirmed. If a student withdraws prior to June 2, 2024, a full refund, less the $350 registration fee, will be made. If a student withdraws on or after June 2, 2024,  all tuition and fees paid to Roger Williams University School of Law may be forfeited, at the sole discretion of the On-Site Director.

A typical student budget for an enrolled student in the Roger Williams University School of Law Cape Verde Study Abroad Program is as follows: 

Approximately $8612, which will consist of: 

• $4362 - Tuition
• $1800 - Round trip airfare from Logan Airport in Boston (estimate)
• $600 - Dorm fee (double occupancy)
• $500 - passport, vaccinations, miscellaneous
• $150 - insurance (estimate)
• $500 - excursion to Goree Island, Senegal
• $700 - food, spending, emergency funds

All of the funds identified in the student budget are eligible to be paid using financial aid procedures established by Roger Williams University School of Law or the student’s home school. The funds may be borrowed from a student loan provider on the submission of a consortium agreement from the student’s home school detailing the student’s projected budget or, in the case of a Roger Williams student, upon approval by the Roger Williams University School of Law financial aid office. For Roger Williams students, grants and scholarships awarded by Roger Williams University School of Law may be used to defray the costs of participation in the study abroad program. Non-Roger Williams students should consult their home school to determine whether grants or scholarship funds awarded by the home school may be used to defray the costs of participation in the study abroad program.

A full refund of all payments for fees, tuition, room, and board shall be made to students in the event the program is cancelled. In all other events, such as, but not limited to, student withdrawal or dismissal, any refund shall be in the sole discretion of the program administrator.

The program will begin in the Departure Lounge in the appropriate terminal at Logan International Airport, for the regularly scheduled Royal Air Maroc air flight to Casablanca, Morocco, with connections to Praia, Cabo Verde, leaving on May 31, 2024 (subject to final confirmation) at 1530 hours. Students enrolled in the program should book their air travel to Cabo Verde on the Royal Air Maroc flight AT9511, leaving Logan International Airport at 1530 hours. Students may also join this flight at JFK Airport in New York City. The program will assist students in making their bookings but students are responsible for confirming and paying for their air travel. Upon arrival in Cabo Verde, the Universidade de Cabo Verde will arrange to transport students to their dormitory rooms. Students will be responsible for confirming and paying for their return flight at the conclusion of the program. Students must check out of their dormitory room on or before July 3, 2024, unless prior arrangement to stay longer is made with the university. There will be a mandatory pre-departure orientation program offered by the study abroad program at a time to be determined in May, 2024.  

Withdrawals

A student may withdraw from the program at anytime before the program commences on June 2, 2024. Withdrawal must be communicated in writing to the On-Site Director. If a student withdraws from the program prior to June 2, 2024, all tuition and fees will be refunded, less the $350 deposit paid upon acceptance. Please allow one month for the refund of tuition and fees to be processed. If a student withdraws from the program on or after June 2, 2024, all tuition and fees paid to Roger Williams University School of Law will be forfeited.

Cancellations

If a sufficient number of students do not register for the program, or in case of a health or public safety emergency the program may be cancelled. Should the program be cancelled students will be notified by email and text, respectively, at the email addresses and phone numbers they have provided to the program. In the event the program is cancelled, Roger Williams University School of Law will provide a full refund of all payments of fees, tuition, room, and board. This is the first year of the Roger Williams program in Cape Verde and there is no prior history of cancellation.

Students on programs abroad sponsored by Roger Williams University School of law are held to the same standards of conduct found in the RWU Student Handbook as well as departmental policies and procedures relevant to their program. In addition to RWU’s policies, students abroad are held to standards of conduct set by the University of Cape Verde, program provider, and Republic of Cape Verde. Students are expected to follow guidelines about culturally appropriate conduct and should confer with on-site staff about local practices. Students who do not adhere to RWU student code of conduct prior to departure, or while abroad, may be subject to administrative withdrawal from the program.

The host institution or program provider may, at their discretion, impose disciplinary measures or dismissal from the program if a student’s behavior is found to be damaging to the program, institution, themselves, or other students. In the case of dismissal, determinations on credits, grades, and finances will be made by Study Abroad in consultation with the program provider or host institution. 

The Cape Verde Constitution guarantees that public buildings be accessible to all persons with disabilities, and Cape Verde is a signatory to the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Nonetheless, the rugged terrain of the islands of the cobbled streets of the cities in Cape Verde may make getting around difficult for those who are mobility impaired. Privately owned buildings are often not accessible to those with disabilities.

Our team is here to support students, faculty, staff, and families with their questions. We are committed to responding to all inquiries during our business hours within 2 business days.

Email: bfreamon@rwu.edu or dabatecola@rwu.edu.