Elizabeth Youakim and other School of Law students worked with underprivileged children in Thailand during their time abroad.
Global learning is increasingly important for a well-rounded and forward-looking legal education, and Loyola’s School of Law has stayed ahead of the curve in offering meaningful international perspectives and experiences.
As the world changes—facing new economic challenges, transnational conflicts, and shifting political regimes—Loyola’s international program changes with it, adapting international offerings to meet evolving student needs. The School of Law continues to make international education and experiences available to students through its top-notch study abroad programs, field studies, international competitions, and globally focused faculty—all targeted to ready students for practice in tomorrow’s international legal arena.
Programs expand, evolve
A significant portion of Loyola law students, approximately 20 percent, have been exposed to international law through Loyola’s programs abroad. The 31 years of summer offerings have been Loyola’s anchor in international law, with students able to choose from four-, six-, or 10-week programs .
The School of Law works hard not only to ensure that study abroad participants have a top-quality classroom grounding in international and comparative law, but also to open as many doors as possible to high-profile legal leaders and judicial venues. As a result, students have firsthand experience and face time with legal heavyweights they’d never be able to meet in Chicago or traveling on their own.
The School of Law’s summer program at the John Felice Rome Center—the school’s first study abroad program—was created by Professors Thomas Haney and Anne-Marie Rhodes. The past two decades of the program have been directed and expanded by Assistant Dean of Students Jean Gaspardo. At the Rome Center and in other summer programs she has directed, Gaspardo has traveled abroad for more than 20 summers, helping to give 1,700 students a firsthand experience in international legal systems.
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