Chinese university creates partnership with IU law school

Even as a little girl growing up in Beijing, IU law student Judy Tian knew she wanted to come to the United States. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in law from TianJin University in China though, she encountered the obstacle of obtaining her visa. \n"I was rejected four times," she said, as she described how hard it is for Chinese students to get visas. \nThe IU School of Law recently established a relationship with Fudan University in Shanghai, China, so Tian said this will probably make it easier for future students to get visas. \nThis program is both a student and faculty exchange, said Lauren Robel, dean of IU Law School. It will probably be an equal exchange of Chinese and American students and faculty, but she said the program is more than just an exchange. The two schools are also setting up a comparative legal culture center at Fudan University. \nLast year, professor Ken Dau-Schmidt spent about two weeks at Fudan giving a series of lectures. Dau-Schmidt said he learned a lot about Chinese society, economy and law. \n"They are and will be a major training partner and competitor in the future," he said. "Our future is tied to theirs."\nDau-Schmidt said the students and faculty in Fudan were very polite. He described an embarrassing moment when he took off his sport jacket and tucked in his shirt after working up a sweat during class. \n"Such informality on the part of professors is uncommon in China, and some of the women actually gasped," he said. "For a brief moment I felt naked. The feeling passed though, and I went on with the lecture." \nHe said he could tell from the students' questions that they had a sophisticated understanding of American issues and politics. \n"Fudan is particularly useful for us because it is one of the premier Chinese universities," he said. "It is in one of the fastest growing city economies in the world, Shanghai, and they have a masters program in English so that American students who have no Chinese can go there and take a full load of courses on Chinese culture, history, politics, economics and law." \nDau-Schmidt said he hopes students and faculty take advantage of the program, so that they have a better grasp and influence in the world economy and politics.\nTian said she thinks the program is great because it gives Chinese students more opportunities to learn about American law, the most advanced law system in the world, and American students get the chance to learn about Chinese culture.\nFirst-year law student Ben Keele said the program makes sense to him. \n"I see students from (Asia) in our LLM, doctor of law program," he said. "I think it's great that we can reciprocate."\nRobel said the idea for the relationship first came up when she traveled to China in April 2005. Since IU already had a relationship with Chinese University of Politic and Law in Beijing, Robel said she knew the relationship with Fudan University would be a positive program. \n"I saw the trend of growth in the city," she said. "It was almost impossible to turn around without seeing a huge construction crane."\nRobel said this relationship is different because classes at Fudan will be taught in English, which opens the opportunity to many more students than programs where the American students are required to speak Mandarin.\n"This (program) is important to IU because we're living in a very globalized world," she said. "Even law firms from Indiana have firms in China. It's important for our students to become culturally (educated)"