[Strengthening Global Partnerships in Legal Education: SWUPL]

The Penn State Dickinson Law delegation, led by Dean Danielle Conway, was honored to meet with colleagues at Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL) in Chongqing, China. SWUPL has 25,000 students enrolled across its programs and partners with 45 law schools in the US alone.

We learned that SWUPL students had to undergo a competitive internal selection process, as Penn State Dickinson Law was a popular choice for applicants. This is a credit to the efforts of colleagues like Stephen Barnes and Jing Hu, who do important stewardship work, as well as faculty and staff. Since 2016, we have had 30 LLM students and 17 exchange scholars.

We had the opportunity to meet with SWUPL’s leadership team, including President Lin Wei. Our discussions with Vice President Prof. Wang Huaiyong, Prof. Li Mankui (Director, International Cooperation and Exchange Office), Prof. Zhang Bo (Vice Dean of School of Economic Law), Prof. Hu Chengsheng (Vice Dean of School of Administrative Law), Prof. Luo Can (Vice Dean of School of AI Law), and Li Muzi (Program Coordinator) centered on deepening collaboration in teaching, research, and student exchanges.

Highlights included:

– Expanding faculty and student exchanges across J.D., LL.M., and Ph.D. programs

– Joint research initiatives in areas such as AI law, economic law, and administrative law

– Opportunities for study abroad, non-degree programs, and joint academic events

– Building platforms for collaborative publications and knowledge-sharing

– Exploring pathways for our students to gain exposure to US and Chinese law as well as global perspectives

We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with SWUPL, one of China’s leading law schools, and to opening new doors for our students and faculty to learn, teach, and innovate together.