UMass School of Law establishes study abroad program at Católica University of Portugal

DARTMOUTH – Ten students from UMass School of Law will be in Portugal from May 17 to 31 as part of a new study abroad program created in partnership with the Católica Global School of Law of Lisbon.

Accompanied by UMass School of Law Dean Sam Panarella and Tort Law Professor Richard Peltz-Steele, the students will be studying Comparative Law in a two-credit course, which will be co-taught by professors from both schools. The group will also visit cultural and legal sites in and around Lisbon.

“It’s important to have a holistic view of international law,” said first-year Law student Paul Riley, when asked about what persuaded him to apply.

Although he is a Public Interest Law Fellow who aspires to pursue a career in international law, perhaps with the United States Foreign Service, Riley said the new program will be an asset to all Law students.

“I hope it’s not so bold to say, but we can be a little insular,” he said. “We can be a little too self-interested and focused on how we do things here in this country, which is obviously unique, and although we have our own rich tradition of the law. As a law student, it’s important to have a comparative understanding of how things are done internationally.”

Katie Yates, also a first-year Law student, said she decided to participate after taking Dr. Peltz-Steele’s Torts Law class and learning about his methodology and seeing the way he thinks about law and applies his own background to it.

“It’s really important to gain experience with your education outside of the classroom as well as inside of it,” she said. “Knowing that part of our trip will include day trips and excursions to go immerse ourselves within the community in Portugal and see what makes Portuguese Law and Portuguese culture, that’s what I am looking for.”

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Portugal, like most countries in Europe, has a civil law legal system, while the United States uses the common law system.

“It’ll be interesting to see just how different it is,” added Yates. “We’re going to learn from actual Portuguese Law professors. We’re going to get their take on it and then we’re going to have our own spins. We get to really dive in and compare those differences and see where we align and where we differ… really use these experiences as a foundation as we grow as lawyers.”

Pointing out that UMass Law’s mission is ‘Pursue Justice,’ Yates said this cannot be adequately and effectively fulfilled unless one is open to new perspectives.

“I feel like we can’t do that without taking this holistic approach, without learning as much as we can about as many types of law as possible and getting all of those different perspectives,” she said.

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Riley said the large Portuguese presence in this region made the program even more appealing.

“That was a big draw for me,” he said. “I have been to Europe a couple of times - Iceland as a vacation and Ireland, which is where my family is from. But Portugal was of great interest to me because in this area we have a very large Portuguese-American community.”

The program costs roughly $7,500, which includes the cost of flights, tuition, accommodations, and food. But thanks to funding provided through UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, students only had to cough up about $1,900.

“I’m just grateful and mindful of the opportunity and I really look forward to making the most out of it. I’m sure I speak for Katie and everybody else on the trip when I say all that,” Riley said. “We need to make such an impact that our partners at Católica University would be happy to have us back. They will because I know the caliber of students on this trip. We’ll do our best to make sure this year is a complete success.”

How did the UMass School of Law study abroad program in Portugal come about?

UMass Law’s study abroad program in Portugal is the brainchild of Dean Panarella, who is completing his first year in Dartmouth.

“In my previous job, I was involved in building a lot of study abroad opportunities for Law students to go to China and Ireland and other places,” Dean Panarella said. “So, I really know the tremendous value for students to go study different legal systems. It tells you a lot not just about what the different laws are, which is always interesting, but also about what societies value as important… How they decide to order themselves and decide to resolve their conflicts.”

Coming from Montana, he said he tried to learn as much as possible about UMass Dartmouth and this region when he was interviewing for the Dean position.

Given that many UMass Law students and supporters are Portuguese or of Portuguese descendent, he found it odd that the school had an exchange program with Ireland but nothing with Portugal.

“It seemed really important to me that we celebrate that relationship, connection and we find opportunities for students to really get inculcated into the Portuguese community, the culture and the legal system,” he said. “It was an initiative that I started, but there are a lot of people who deserve a lot of thanks for this.”

He said UMass Law Assistant Dean of Public Interest Law Programs and External Relations John Quinn was critical in helping create the program, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Shaun Spencer and Director of Law Enrollment Nancy Moniz were also very helpful in setting it up.

“Católica [University] was an obvious partner because they have relationships with UMass Dartmouth,” he said. “It’s a wonderful law school, right in the middle of Lisbon.”

To help start the conversation with Católica, they contacted former UMass Dartmouth Political Science Professor Michael Baum, who is now associated with Study in Portugal Network (SiPN), a specialized study abroad provider based in Lisbon and a multi-university consortium of Portuguese universities.

“What’s really cool about this is that this is truly a team effort,” Dean Panarella said. “We were able to do it in such a short time frame because a ton of people came together and really wanted this to happen.”

The idea is for the program to have a different topic every year. The inaugural group will be studying data privacy.

Another goal is to make the program as affordable as possible for students.

“I don’t want this to be a program that’s only available to students of means,” Panarella said.

That’s when Massachusetts Senator Michael Rodrigues – who has been a great supporter of UMass Law according to Panarella - stepped in. He put UMass Law officials in touch with Dr. Paula Noversa, the director of UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, and she agreed to be a partner.

“The funds here are from the appropriation that comes to them [Center] from the state,” Panarella said. “Essentially, the Portuguese Center and their appropriation is supporting 75% of the entire cost of the program. Students are responsible for their airfare and some miscellaneous food costs.”

While in Portugal, students will have 10 days of classes, spending two and a half to three hours each day in the classroom.

“This is not intended to be a summer camp,” Dean Panarella said. “Prof. Peltz-Steele will teach the U.S. side of this. We’ve got two Católica Law professors who will take the Portuguese-E.U. side of it. We’ll probably have a guest speaker or two. They’ll also be going to sites that have a legal and cultural significance within Portugal.”

According to Dean Panarella, the ultimate goal is to have a bilateral program, where students from Portugal can also come to UMass Law.

“We have a memorandum of understanding. It envisions all kinds of partnerships - faculty exchanges, student exchanges, summer study abroad programs. This is the first of what we hope are several programs that we’ll do. So ideally, in the future, we’ll have students going back and forth, faculty go back and forth and research opportunities back and forth.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: UMass School of Law establishes study abroad program in Portugal