Summer in Oxford Program

Academic Program

Classes

Five different courses will be offered, each with a class size of approximately 35 students. Students enrolled in the program may choose any combination of the five courses and earn up to six semester hours of credit. The academic program has been approved by the American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, and credit is awarded by The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Comparative Legal Professions (3 semester hours)
This course examines the legal professions in England and the United States. It examines the ways in which services are delivered to clients in the two countries, and will challenge commonly held assumptions about lawyers and the legal profession. Reference also will be made to the comparative ethical requirements imposed upon lawyers in the United States and England. The course will be taught by Dr. Christopher Whelan who has taught legal profession courses in both Great Britain and the United States, and serves as Associate Director, International Law Programs, at the University of Oxford. This course may satisfy state bar or law school requirements in professional responsibility. Students are advised, however, to check their local requirements.

Comparative Famiily Law (3 semester hours)
This course will explore the similarities and differences in the conceptualization and treatment of families across legal systems. We will examine the regulation of marriage, domestic partnerships, same-sex marriage, divorce, and reproductive rights. The course also explores the relationship between children, parents, and the state with a particular emphasis on custody, child abduction, corporal punishment, and the financial support of children. We also will examine how international laws, convention, and treaties, like the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have shaped the development of domestic family law in individual nations. The course will be taught by Professor Katherine Federle of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Comparative Criminal Procedure (2 semester hours)
This course will explore the major themes and theories of criminal procedure rules and regulations in the United States, in the U.K. and in a few other countries around the globe. Students will explore and compare the purposes driving the criminal process in various countries. Among the topics to be a focus of the course will be the importance and role of different procedures in truth-seeking, in the presumption of innocence, in the protection of the rights of the accused and the involvement of victims and other nongovernmental actors, and in promoting respect for the criminal justice system. The course will be taught by Professor Douglas A. Berman of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

European Union Law (3 semester hours)
This course introduces the institutional and constitutional framework of the European law in its political, economic, and international context. It also examines the economic objectives of the European Union, the role of law in achieving those objectives, and the feasibility of law-based market integration. The course will be taught by Dr. Christopher Whelan.

Comparative Sentencing and Punishment (1 semester hour)
This course explores some of the major issues surrounding the administration of criminal justice in England and the United States. The course focuses on generic questions and deals with broad principles and general problems in an effort to get students thinking about how law works as a means of social control. It takes a socio-legal view, focusing on the key institutions of the criminal justice system in both countries. The course will be taught by Professor Keith Hawkins, who is currently professor emeritus of law and society at the University of Oxford.

Guest Lectures

In addition to the regularly scheduled classes, the program features at least six lectures by prominent scholars in their respective fields. Topics of past lectures have included "Tony Blair's Domestic Policy Triumphs 1997-2007," "From Blair to Brown: British Foreign Policy in Flux," and "The Conservative Challenge: The Politics of David Cameron." The cost of these lectures is included in the program tuition.

Side Trips

The program also includes numerous educational and cultural side trips. Students will visit courts in London (including the Old Bailey), the English Inns of Court, and the Houses of Parliament. Trips also will be scheduled to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, Windsor Castle, and Runnymede. The cost of these trips is included in the program tuition.