It's a Small World
Dear Asha:
Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions. I'm interested in
studying International Law, and am excited about YLS's course offerings. I
did have some questions, which I'm hoping you might help with. Does
YLS allow its students to study abroad at foreign institutions as part of
their legal training? Are there summer and/or semester-year
long programs? What do most students whose focus is international
law do with their degrees? How do they serve?
Thanks,
D.R.
Honolulu, HI
Dear D.R.,
OK, so right now I am so jealous that you are in Honolulu, because the weather here is starting to get pretty cold. Not that that's a bad thing: Sarah will, no doubt, be giving you some insight into the many things you can do on cold and snowy days in New Haven, so stay tuned!
Now, to your question. Yale does not offer a formal study abroad program during the academic year. While this is popular at the undergraduate level and some law schools do allow this, our program currently emphasizes the fostering of a strong community for the three years you are here, and with all of the courses, activities, journals, and independent research opportunities we have, we think it's important that you are in residence for all six semesters in order to take advantage of your time here.
With that said, there are opportunities to go abroad, apart from an exchange with a foreign legal institution. First, Yale offers the possibility of doing an Intensive Semester, which can involve spending a semester in a foreign country. To do an Intensive Semester abroad, a student must have a very detailed research proposal which would be impossible to carry out while remaining in residence at the Law School, which must then be approved by the Faculty Committee on Special Courses of Study. I should note that the bar for doing an Intensive Semester is very high, and only a few students are approved to do this each year. Nevertheless, it is an option for those of you whose specialized interests may involve foreigh legal systems and research.
In addition, the Law School has region-specific programs that can involve going abroad over the summer or during the school year. For example, the Middle East Legal Studies Seminar (MELSS) is an annual meeting bringing together students, academics, lawyers, and judges interested in Middle Eastern legal issues. You can read more about last year's meeting, which took place in Athens, Greece, here. In addition, the Law School sponsors a South America Linkage Program over the summer, in which Yale Law School students visit their student counterparts in Argentina, Chile, and Brazil -- the Yale students then host the South American students in New Haven the following spring.
Finally, the most common avenue for students to go abroad is during the summer. The Law School's Schell Center for International Human Rights provides summer fellowships for students seeking to do human rights work over the summer: the fellowships cover travel costs, and are in addition to the Summer Public Interest Fellowships (SPIF) which cover living expenses for any student doing public interest work during the summer, both domestically and internationally. Students have used this funding to work in countries such as Uganda, Thailand, Israel, and China, just to name a few.
As for what to do with a internationally-focused law degree from Yale, the answer is: just about anything. Dean Harold Koh has made globalization a cornerstone of the Law School's future, and you'll find that almost any subject will have international implications. Students from Yale go on to become (among other things) human rights activists, journalists, attorneys specializing in international financial transactions, and environmental lawyers...the world is your oyster!
-- Asha
Please submit questions to 203blog@law.yale.edu.