With a joint degree in government and religious studies and a minor in Arabic, Franklin & Marshall College graduate Julia Bevan ’20 is the personification of a liberal arts education. And it’s thanks to this unique blend that Bevan felt fully prepared for her studies at New York University School of Law.
“The liberal arts approach to thinking and learning fits well with law school,” she said. “You have to be comfortable with thinking from different perspectives, being creative and dealing with ambiguity, all skills that I really developed at F&M.”
Bevan specifically mentioned an F&M course — “Human Rights-Human Wrongs” taken with Professor of Government Susan Dicklitch-Nelson — as the best preparation she could have received for a career in law.
“I was able to work on real asylum cases, preparing country conditions packets and briefs for attorneys,” she said. “That course both gave me direct experience in the legal field and helped me establish a network in the immigration field.”
Bevan said she hopes to always maintain a strong connection to the immigration field and play a role in movements toward justice. She sees herself following a route toward intellectual property and media practice, advocating for a free and independent press to provide the public access to reliable information.
“Through my work at the Tahirih Justice Center and for the F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rights, I saw the impact that misinformation and lack of adequate information has on every major issue facing the U.S. and also human rights issues facing the world,” she said. “I want to work in a field where I can help create and preserve pathways to educate the public on pressing issues.”
“You have to be comfortable with thinking from different perspectives, being creative and dealing with ambiguity, all skills that I really developed at F&M.”
— Julia Bevan ’20
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Julia Bevan ’20, who is now studying at New York University School of Law