First Looks Can Be Deceiving in Giessen, Germany

A plate of gelato ice cream shaped like spaghetti noodles and covered in red sauce.To the left you can see a photo that seems to show a plate of spaghetti noodles topped by some sort of strawberry sauce.  However, first looks can be deceiving.  This is actually a photo of a popular type of gelato, called “spaghetti eis,” that is served at the Cafe San Marcos and at numerous other locations in Giessen, Germany.

Similarly, if you were to walk around the campus of Justus Liebig University for the next three weeks, you would undoubtedly see a large group of students laughing and talking as they make their way to and from classes.  You might even assume that these are German law students attending a summer session.  However, once again first looks can be deceiving.

These students currently enjoying the warm and sunny weather are actually over 40 law students who have gathered in Giessen from the United States and across the globe to participate in the Summer Session in International and Comparative Law co-hosted once again by the Marquette University Law School and our partners the University of Wisconsin and Justus Liebig University.  There are 14 students attending from the United States and a variety of other countries represented including Brazil, Poland, Egypt, Portugal, Belgium, Macedonia, Italy and Vietnam, to name a few.

At this stage of the program, the students have finished a week of classes, and a whirlwind field trip to Berlin, and they are beginning to feel at home in Giessen.  A Laser Tag outing has been planned.  The best Karaoke Bar in town has been located.

However, the students are also engaged in serious work.  In addition to my class on Comparative Constitutional Law (comparing the constitutional systems of Germany, the United States, and several Latin American countries), the students also have the option of taking courses in International Labor and Employment Law (taught by our own Professor Paul Secunda), Business Ethics and Human Rights, and International Economic Law and Business Transactions.

Planning is already underway for the summer 2019 program in Giessen, Germany.  You may think that all study abroad programs for law students are the same, but look again.  The Summer Session in International and Comparative Law mixes an international student body with an international group of faculty for a one-of-a-kind experience in legal education.  Sometimes first looks can be deceiving.

 

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