In November, Professor Leslie E. Wolf participated in the Second International Congress on Legal Education at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. Wolf was part of an international panel regarding law school curriculum and spoke about the Georgia State Law’s Health Law Certificate as a way to prepare students as professionals through an integrated, sequenced curriculum.
“It was a fascinating conference,” Wolf said. “Although, like many European countries, law is an undergraduate degree in Turkey, many of the issues discussed were similar to what we face in the U.S.”
Topics included incorporating experiential learning into the curriculum to prepare students for practice, use of technology, and gender issues. The audience included legal academics and practitioners from Turkey and countries across the globe, as well as Turkish law students.
“It was wonderful to see the students actively participating in the conference and questioning the panelists,” Wolf said. “It makes sense to involve students in conversations about the future of legal education.
Wolf also commented about the connections she made. “There were numerous opportunities to interact with the other speakers and the Hacettepe University law students,” she said. “I really enjoyed talking to the students about their experiences and discussing potential collaborations with my international colleagues.”
Wolf hopes to build on this experience and the law school’s existing relationships with law schools in Turkey. In March, Ryan Rowberry, assistant professor of law with the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth will bring law students together with students at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul during spring break for the course, International Perspectives on Urban Law & Policy.
“This is a good model for the Center for Law, Health & Society,” Wolf said.