When I was planning my one year vacation, I was thinking much more about travel than teaching. But having had such great experiences working with East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL) (2016 and 2018) and Northwest University of Political Science and Law (NWUPL) (2017 and 2018) while based in China, both decisions were easy when I was asked if I would be interested in teaching while on the road.

2021 as a Test Run

In Summer 2021, I taught LEALS online for ECUPL. It was only my second course since 2018 when I moved positions. Aside from an emergency LL.M. legal writing course in Fall 2020 during the initial phases of the pandemic return, I had focused far more on administration work than teaching in Florida. In Winter 2020, I was invited to participate in an online activity with my former ECUPL LEALS students who had studied in the United States. That led to a discussion about whether I would be interested in teaching LEALS online in Summer 2021.

LEALS was designed to reflect the law school classroom and so much of my course preparation from 2015 to 2018 was built on that idea. From the breakout group activities to the Socratic method analysis of cases, to bouncing hypotheticals off students, the course was designed to be taught in-person. The benefits of informal chats during breaks, class dinners, office hours in an actual office, helped me get to know students and students get a test run for studying law in the United States. And teaching students in a second language meant being able to rely heavily on facial expressions and other cues for when people were tired, needed something clarified, or had other concerns.

I spent a lot of my nights and weekends tweaking LEALS during that summer (I was teaching only in my personal capacity). And the result was that the course was once again a success.

Summer 2022: ECUPL on an American Road Trip

When I decided to take my one year vacation, I wanted to start by taking a road trip across the United States. I had actually been to more parts of China than the United States in my life, and I also wanted to see my colleagues at UC Irvine, Northwestern, and Boston, who I worked with in my position at Florida, as well as colleagues at other law schools in the United States. Our international LL.M. community is tight knit, and I missed seeing people during the pandemic as we all switched to online for recruitment.

And so, as I set out across the United States, I built into my schedule that twice a week I would be teaching from the road. One of my favorite additions to the course was highlighting the State i was in for current events and connecting it to our course and to discuss the court systems in that State. Whether it was the civil law heritage of Louisiana, federalism issues related to immigration in Texas, or another topic, the students enjoyed being able to connect the course to my travels, especially because I also posted pictures from my trip on WeChat. The other addition was to start the class with a 5-minute presentation from a student on the class topic that day. Students honed their presentation skills and I was able to hear from more students than usual. One student who was shy the first few weeks became one of the most active participants after their presentation.

This ECUPL class was also one of the strongest groups I’ve ever taught. Word-of-mouth spread that the course was a great prep for studying abroad and the students did a great job absorbing the material, attending office hours, and using LEALS as a great free investment in their future plans. I wrote the most letters of recommendation for any class, and I have been so proud of how well the students have performed in their study abroad applications and scholarships.

Fall 2022 and March 23: NWUPL from Indonesia, Vietnam, and Korea

Once I agreed to the ECUPL course, I figured I’d teach while traveling in the United States and then head off to Bali for a while. But a close colleague from my NWUPL days asked if I would be willing to teach a course during the Fall for NWUPL and I was of course happy to say yes after the hospitality and friendships from my time in Xi’an over the years.

I wasn’t sure how the course would work when I said yes, but luckily the course met every Monday. This gave me a sense of purpose during my vacation, as each Sunday was my time for course review and I had some structure during an otherwise unstructured vacation.

While my ECUPL students were LL.B. students planning to study abroad (which are the students I traditionally work with), my NWUPL class was composed of J.M./LL.M. students who studied other subjects in their bachelor degrees. This contrast was nice for me as the students were older, had more experiences, and had often traveled in other parts of the world. When I read their answers to my questionnaire, I was amazed at the great backgrounds for these students who were coming to law school to become legal professionals at the Master’s level. These students were just as dedicated and committed as my LL.B. students and brought new perspectives to the classroom discussions.

Office hours were fun each week as I sat on my iPad from a hotel lobby, beachside restaurant, or even on a rest during a travel day. I learned about my student who studied and visited Indonesia, my student who studied in a bachelor program in the United States, and so many other great stories. In addition to speaking about the class material, we bonded over music, travel, food, and life experiences in unique ways.

I always worried about what would happen if the WiFi was weak. Luckily I found a great hotel that I checked into most Sunday nights to ensure really strong WiFi connections. My students were fantastic as we went through four periods back-to-back-to-back-to-back. To their credit, they stayed engaged throughout. We had a fantastic core group of students who participated actively each week, and I found other ways to ensure that those who were a little nervous or shy about speaking were able to demonstrate their involvement in the class.

Overall Experience

Just like my in-person courses for ECUPL and NWUPL, I was impressed by the high-quality level of the students, their diligence and focus on the course materials, and their eagerness to engage me despite the distance between us, not getting to really meet me in-person, and speaking in a second language. Both schools selected outstanding representatives who I know will do well in their studies in China and in their legal careers. While some will study abroad, others will not. I know that for each LEALS class and my goal is to help them prepare for whatever experiences they choose in their careers.

While I miss the in-person moments, I’ve learned to embrace the benefits of the online model. Courses are more spread out so I can spend more time working with the students. We have more days in between assignments for students to read and write. I have more time to get to know students during office hours. And from a practical standpoint, we do not have to worry about costs for flights and accommodations when I am teaching online.

Concluding Thoughts

Many U.S. law schools have partnerships in China. In fact, the way I was able to spend so much time in China was because of these partnerships. These partnerships often contain MOUs, which can include joint activities, student mobility, and opportunities for visiting faculty. The shift online has made it much easier to engage in joint activities all year round. I am hopeful that MOUs will not be focused on LL.M. enrollment, and instead offer more benefits to the law schools in China. I hope to see more U.S. law school professors offer online courses, maybe even joint courses, as well as more collaboration at the faculty level.

I enjoyed seeing my ECUPL colleagues focus on building their alumni network. That is how this return to LEALS started in Winter 2020 when I spoke with 5 of my former students to new students about the LEALS experience. I hope to see more schools focus on connecting their alumni who studied abroad to the new students. These alumni can give great advice about scholarships, admissions, student support, and the environment at their law schools for Chinese students and all international students. Having more information about studying abroad is a powerful thing, and I look forward to continuing to see LEALSers at both schools (and others!) become even more knowledgeable.

U.S. law schools are facing increasing competition from around the world. LEALSers at ECUPL and NWUPL can choose so many different jurisdictions to study in. I’ve written recommendation letters for students to study in Australia, France, Singapore, and the United Kingdom recently. A student was nervous if I would care that they are studying in another jurisdiction and I said I was happy wherever they chose to study. Although the A in LEALS stands for American, the course is really designed for any common law jurisdiction or any English-language program in a civil law jurisdiction. I am proud of all my students, whether they choose to study abroad or not. In fact, the syllabus notes that point! Students at schools like ECUPL and NWUPL truly have the world at their fingertips and I am so glad that these schools provide such great opportunities for their students.