The School of Law wishes to congratulate 10 of our undergraduate and postgraduate law students who, along with Dr Kathryn O’Sullivan, travelled this summer to the prestigious Sichuan University in China to participate in the University’s highly respected University Immersion Programme 2015. This year saw 400+ international students from around the world partake in the UIP and attend classes delivered in English by over 170 international faculty from approximately 90 different countries.
The 10 students who travelled from the School of Law (supported by generous scholarships awarded by both the University of Limerick and Sichuan University) each successfully completed two law courses during their two week stay. Law courses taught included ‘Legal Systems across the World’ delivered by Dr Kathryn O’Sullivan (University of Limerick), ‘International Economic Law’ presented by Dr Angelos Dimopoulos (Queen Mary, University of London), ‘Comparative Tort Law’ taught by Prof Mark David Lunney (University of New England, Australia) and ‘Civil Litigation and Advocacy’ delivered by Kathryn Taylor (Nottingham Trent University).
In addition to completing the academic courses delivered, students were invited to participate in a number of competitions. One of the biggest competitions, the Big Bang Theory science competition, saw 16 teams compete from world-renowned universities such as the National University of Singapore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Sichuan University. The University of Limerick was represented by Mary Tumelty (PhD candidate in Law) and Anna Duggan (2nd year Law Plus). The students produced an excellent presentation on their project entitled ‘Case Study: An analysis of the psychological effects of wrongful imprisonment’ and won the top awards for ‘Best Originality and Presentation’ and ‘Best Academic Performance’, receiving high praise from the judging panel of Dr. Stephan Keukeleire (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Dr. Roger C. Shouse (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Craig S. Smith (University of Florida) and Dr. Ren Wen (Sichuan University).
Three UL students – Neasa Peters (Graduate Entry Law), Alan McCabe (2nd year Law Plus) and Adam Corbett (4th year Law and Accounting) – also partook in the UIP Debating Competition. The students were paired with fellow students from Sichuan University and the National University of Singapore to argue stated motions which centred on the global free movement of labour and European Union membership. The competition, which took place in the impressive Moot Court of the Sichuan University Law School, was judged by Dr Craig Sinclair Smith (University of Florida) and Mark D. Rentz (Arizona State University). Again the students performed outstandingly with Neasa Peters (UL) and Veronica Adele Cijian (National University of Singapore) proving a winning team. Three further UL School of Law students – Róisín Cahill (4th year Law Plus), Nicola Hackett (4th year Law Plus) and Bláthín O’Shea (2nd year Law Plus) – made excellent presentations on Ireland and the University of Limerick at a Sharing Session attended by a range of international students from Europe, North America and Asia.
Over the course of the two week programme, the students enjoyed a deep immersion in Chinese history and culture. They visited a range of sites in Chengdu such as the Giant Panda Breeding Centre, the Jinsha Museum and the Wenshu Monastery; travelled to see the Giant Buddha located at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Leshan; climbed Qingcheng Mountain; enjoyed Chinese Tea ceremonies and the Sichuan Opera; and sampled local cuisine including the famous Sichuan Hot Pot.
The trip was a resounding success and builds on the School of Law’s commitment to further strengthening our international ties with our partner institutions around the world, providing our students with the best possible opportunities to gain an international education experience during their studies at the School of Law in the University of Limerick.
