CLAE: More than English essays and music videos

There are so many academic programs in the College of Liberal Arts & Education, but one that is fairly overlooked is the Political Science/Pre-Law program. 

And no, everybody in the program doesn’t want to be a lawyer. Most want to be involved in some type of legal or government administration.

One of those people is Sara Stover, a junior, majoring in Poli-Sci and Philosophy. 

In the midst of her sophomore year, Stover decided she didn’t want to be an attorney anymore and would rather have a career in government and public policy. 

“It was actually Professor Zamalin who geared me towards my decision,” she said. 

Professor Alex Zamalin is also a favorite of senior Jewuel Boswell who hopes to go to law school and eventually become a District Attorney. Boswell is majoring in Poli-Sci/Pre-Law and describes herself as a socially awkward person. 

“Both Professor Zamalin and Dr. (Stephen) Manning helped me open up and actually speak in class because this is something that I’m really passionate about,” she said. 

Manning is an associate professor of the Poli-Sci program and department chair, and director of the Pre-Law program. Zamalin is in his second year at Detroit Mercy as an assistant professor of Poli-Sci and director of the African American Studies Program. 

Manning recently helped Boswell get an internship at the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. 

But, like most academic programs, Poli-Sci is just a general degree; each student specializes in something different and this is true for senior Zana Brown. 

Brown was in the Early College program at Macomb Community College, where she was required to shadow judges for internship hours. 

After her experience in the courtrooms, Brown decided Pre-Law and Poli-Sci was the right choice for her. 

Brown said she wants to become a real estate agent and eventually a broker, but law school is expensive so being a real estate attorney is on hold for now. 

“I want to specialize in providing affordable and safe housing for college students and homeowners, primarily in the city of Detroit,” Brown said. “I also want to provide resources for lower income people to become homeowners.”