Participating in the first Iowa Law study abroad program since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, Amber Crow (23JD) said her trip to London during this past winter session provided an invaluable culmination to her law school experience.
“This was a meaningful trip for the 3L students. We started our legal education during the height of the pandemic, which posed a lot of challenges. The trip was a wonderful way for many of us to connect with one another and end our legal education on an exciting and enriching note,” said Crow, who after passing the bar will be joining an Iowa law firm that also operates in London and Shanghai.
Professor Stella Burch Elias, director of the London Law Program, said that for many of this year’s 40 participants, the 2022-2023 trip was especially exciting because their undergraduate study abroad programs had been canceled, and some had never had the opportunity to travel to another country.
“It was rewarding to be a part of their journey. In addition to working hard in their classes and participating fully in their field trips, the students took advantage of the many opportunities that London had to offer during their two weeks in the U.K.,” said Elias, who accompanied the students to Parliament, the Inns of Court, the U.K. Supreme Court, and Oxford University.
This winter, the two courses that will be taught in London, Elias said, are the British Legal System and Art Law and the Business of Art.
Associate Dean Adrien Wing, director of the summer study abroad program in France (held this year from May 15 to June 16), agreed that the first trip to be offered since 2019 went exceptionally well.
“Students have always been enthusiastic about the program,” Wing said, adding that the level of excitement for this year’s trip was no different than in previous years.
Stella Nguepnang, who is entering her third year at Iowa Law, found that this year’s program in France was an opportunity “to open up my chances of working internationally.”
Born in Cameroon, Nguepnang was able to add legal vocabulary to her fluent French with the help of Professor Michaël Amado, a French lawyer and professor who taught Introduction to French Law I and II. Instruction in the program is in English, but Nguepnang said Amado challenged the French-speaking students to develop their professional language skills.
“Before, I was not going to go into an [international] courtroom and speak to a judge,” Nguepnang said. “Now I’m prepared for that.”
Traveling with the program, which included stays in Paris and the seaside town of Arcachon, has fueled Nguepnang’s passions for travel and international law.
“Going on the trip just makes me want to travel more and learn about different systems of law,” she said. “It really does open your eyes when you see how other people do things.”