Tuesday, March 14, 2006 |
By WENDY MOSES, Editorial Intern Like their counterparts around the country, two Georgia law schools have expanded their
international programs. The University of Georgia School of Law this year is sending students to study in China and
England. Georgia State University College of Law recently added a study-abroad opportunity in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, which offers comparative and international environmental law, cross-cultural
conflict resolution and international trade law. GSU students also can take part in a 12-year-old
European program. C. Donald Johnson, director of the Dean Rusk Center, which coordinates most international law
studies at UGA, sounded particularly enthusiastic about the school’s China offering. “This may well be the Asian century, and if you’re interested in international relations then you
should know something about what’s going on in China,” he said. “We think that this program is one of the best recruiting devices we have. It certainly has been
instrumental in a lot of people’s decisions to come to Georgia,” he said. “And also it provides a
very valuable asset upon graduation to students.” About 10 percent of the school’s graduates deal with international law immediately after
graduation, Johnson said, and many of the rest will be involved in international law dealings at
some point in their careers. UGA students in China this summer will study U.S.-China trade issues under the World Trade
Organization and introductions to the Chinese legal system and commercial law. After three weeks of classroom instruction, they can work at Chinese law firms for the rest of the
summer. The program runs in collaboration with Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan
University in Shanghai. The China trip is open to up to 30 law students from all over the world. This summer’s first trip
includes students from the Emory University School of Law and universities in Europe, Johnson
said. The England program, at the University of Oxford , is limited to 10 UGA students and 10
students from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Since 2001, UGA has offered externship arrangements through which students have worked in
Belgium, China, Germany, Ghana and Guyana. At Georgia State, Associate Dean Anne S. Emanuel said, “Our foreign programs …are not just
about being abroad. They’re about the impact of international law and American law.” GSU sends not only its students but also its faculty abroad to study. Michael B. Landau just
returned from Finland, Colin Crawford is currently in the Dominican Republic and Andrea A.
Curcio will head to China next spring. The professors will be supported by Fulbright programs,
Emanuel said. The marketplace is pushing schools to move studies beyond North American borders, Emanuel
said. More people are taking notice of the effect of globalization on commercial transactions and
international human rights, she said. Another popular area of study is civil and common law
comparisons. GSU offers about 15 elective courses in comparative and international law and an externship
program in international law at The Carter Center. International professors come to teach two to
three weeks of an upper-level elective. GSU’s Summer Legal and Policy Study program in Brazil operates in conjunction with Florida
International University College of Law and the Seattle University School of Law. The European program at GSU is based in Linz, Austria, this year, co-sponsored by Johannes
Kepler University of Linz and the University of Warsaw in Poland. Other Georgia law schools have slimmer international programs. Mercer University School of Law co-sponsors three study-abroad programs organized by Stetson
University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla. The programs take place in Spain, Argentina,
Germany and the Netherlands. Mercer also offers an introductory course in public international
law. Emory University’s law school has between six and nine faculty who teach international law,
said Interim Dean Frank S. Alexander. The school does not have formal study-abroad programs,
although it has special relationships with other universities to exchange students, he said. The John Marshall School of Law offers electives in international law and European Union law,
according to its Web site. Editorial Intern Wendy Moses can be reached at wmoses@alm.com. |