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U.S.-Asia Academic Residencies

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Chinese faculty, students, and legal professionals visit VLS to participate in research projects, classes, and other activities that advance the main objectives of the PEL program. These educational efforts teach Chinese individuals and institutions to become more effective problem solvers in the field of environmental and energy law and policy. Law faculty and legal professionals have the opportunity to participate in academic residencies of various lengths at VLS while Chinese law students have the opportunity to attend Summer Session classes at VLS.

Faculty Exchanges

Academic residencies provide visiting scholars not only an opportunity to acquire substantive knowledge in various topics in American and international environmental law but also access to VLS's extensive environmental legal studies collection, one of the most comprehensive and well-organized in the country. They are able to engage in substantive and in-depth discussions and exchanges with VLS's environmental and energy faculty and other visiting environmental law experts. Furthermore, the opportunity to observe American law school pedagogical methods allows them to augment and improve their own law teaching skills. Finally, they are also able to network with other American environmental and energy law experts and Chinese officials visiting VLS. The opportunity to acquire such skills, experiences, and relationships will advance their environmental careers and support them in their future efforts to positively affect the underlying conditions of China's environmental governance challenges.

Summer Students

During the summer months, VLS hosts Summer Session. The program offers 30-35 compressed environmental law courses every summer and allows the Chinese exchange students and visiting scholars to take advantage of a wide range of environmental law offerings in a limited period of time.