China University of Political Science and Law Students Arrive at King Hall for Innovative Fall Semester Program

Twenty-two top LL.M. and Ph.D. students from China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), one of the top law schools in China, arrived in October at UC Davis School of Law to participate in a three-month program of study on the American legal system. This unique new program is the result of a special relationship between UC Davis School of Law and Beijing-based CUPL.

For the past several years, prominent King Hall faculty have visited China to teach and share legal research and expertise with CUPL's faculty and students, and CUPL faculty and doctoral students have come to King Hall to learn more about various aspects of law from an American point of view. UC Davis School of Law also established a student exchange program between the two law schools, and a number of top students from CUPL join the UC Davis academic year LL.M. program each August.

Beth Greenwood, Associate Dean of International Programs, notes that "faculty members at UC Davis School of Law are thrilled by this opportunity to deepen our relationship with China University of Political Science and Law. This is another stage in our long-term institutional collaboration."

The program seeks to provide students an in-depth understanding of the U.S. legal system through learning the fundamentals of the common law system and first-hand experience with the Socratic method. Faculty provide instruction on contracts, business associations, constitutional law, torts, and appellate advocacy among other subjects. Students visit courts and the California Legislature during their stay.

Richard (Ruichao) Hu is a PhD candidate in constitutional and administrative law, and he is undertaking comparative research focusing on U.S. law. He learned of this program when he participated in a short course taught by Associate Dean Greenwood and Visiting Lecturer Johann Morri on site at CUPL earlier this year. Hu says, “This program is important because it exercises our legal thinking. I have participated in the lunchtime lectures, and seeing these experts with different views is very instructive.” Hu also notes that the Mabie Law Library is “great.” “The program offers access to all the databases and materials,” notes Hu, “so it is very useful for me to complete research while I am here.”

Summer (Yujie) Fan is a first-year master’s student in International Law with an interest in humanitarian law. She has taken opportunities to join broader conversations about policy, including joining the campus Model United Nations club. “My university in China focuses only on political science and law,” says Fan, “so it has been wonderful to meet students studying science, engineering, and other fields. We had one of our meetings on Election Day. It was really impressive. I feel so lucky to experience this unique time in the U.S.”

Bella (Yue) Hu is completing a year of post-masters work at CUPL right now, in which she is focusing on bankruptcy law. “U.S. bankruptcy law is more developed than Chinese law in that field,” Bella explains, so she hopes to learn policy approaches that can support the Chinese system. Bella is pleased with the Socratic learning method used in the courses. Bella reflects on her experiences in classrooms in the two countries: “In China, we do not prepare much before class. Here in the U.S., the cases and readings are learned before class. This helps us in our studies.”

"Partnership programs like this one are essential in today's global legal landscape," says Associate Dean Greenwood. “This rigorous academic program for talented graduate students is intended to expand those international connections. It continues to be our honor and pleasure to collaborate with our CUPL colleagues.”

For more information about other International Law Programs, please visit law.ucdavis.edu/international or contact Kate Asche at internationallaw@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-6081.