Message from the Director
In 1994 NYU became the first Global Law School, recognizing that legal education must transcend national boundaries and reflect the increasingly global character of legal issues and practice. While other law schools in the U.S. and elsewhere have emulated this move, NYU School of Law has, through a continuing series of further initiatives, remained the cutting edge pioneer in building a global approach to legal education. The centerpiece of these initiatives is the Hauser Global Law School Program, generously supported by Rita and Gus Hauser.
One set of initiatives brings the world to New York to ensure that NYU students enjoy a wide range of transnational perspective on legal theory and practice, both inside and outside the class room. Each year NYU welcomes a dozen or so Global Law Faculty from around the world, including developing as well as developed countries, to teach an astonishing variety of subjects, including but by no means limited to comparative and international law topics. The Hauser program also awards generous scholarships for top graduate students from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Australia and New Zealand in order to enrich the diversity and quality of the student body. These include a dozen Hauser Scholars and up to 30 additional Grotius, Vanderbilt and Dean’s Award Scholars each year, selected through rigorous worldwide competitions. Additionally, up to 30 Visiting Scholars and Doctoral Researchers from abroad also come to New York each year to enrich the research community. The Hauser Program and affiliated Centers and Institutes also invite a wide range of distinguished visitors - such as UN Secretaries -general Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon, Argentine President Christina Kirchner, and Former French President Giscard d’Estaing - and sponsor scores of conferences and workshops on global topics annually.
A second and recent set of Global Law School initiatives is taking NYU to the world. NYU currently has student exchange programs with 15 partner law schools throughout the world. In 2007 NYU became the first U.S. law school to establish a degree-granting program abroad through its NYU@NUS program in cooperation with the National University of Singapore (NUS). The inaugural class began in May 2007 with students from 23 countries. Students are based in Singapore and earn an LL.M. in Law and the Global Economy from NYU and an LL.M. from NUS. Courses are taught by NYU and NUS faculty.
Further, in the past years NYU's Institute for International Law and Justice has launched a series of regional academic conferences on global regulation and governance with laws schools and research institutes in Latin America, Southern Africa, India, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The next step will be an expanded program or joint research, teaching (including continuing legal education) and major high-level regional conferences with networks of developing country law schools. The aim is to build academic and legal capacities that will enable developing country governments, NGOs, and the private sector to deal more effectively with global regulatory issues currently dominated by developed countries and multinational businesses. Topics include international trade and investment, different modes for financing development, intellectual property, business, environmental, and labor regulation, and human rights. NYU faculty and students will be a part of these partnership networks and activities, along with NYU Global Faculty and alumni throughout the world. These activities will in turn enrich NYU’s academic programs in New York and Singapore.
The remainder of this part of the Law School’s webpage and its links provide additional information on these and other Global Law School activities. Further information can be obtained by contacting law.global@juris.law. nyu.edu.
--Professor Richard Stewart