Twelve students are returning to classes this week with tales to tell about their term at Hong Kong University (HKU), where they participated in one of Queen’s Law’s most popular exchange programs. The JD candidates took courses from the beginning of September until the end of November, with many travelling around Asia both before and after the program.

Libby Nixon, Law’16, enjoyed the mix of academic and non-academic experiences that HKU has to offer, ranging from engaging coursework to a variety of hiking trails and beaches in the area. “The HKU exchange provides the opportunity to learn and live in in one of the leading business and cultural cities in the world,” she says. “Not only is there so much to explore in the city itself, but it also functions as the perfect home base for exploring Asia.”

HKU is a leading educational institution with access to a range of globally renowned professors and stunning school grounds and facilities. Queen’s requires that each exchange student take a minimum of either five undergraduate courses or a mix of undergraduate and graduate courses. Nixon says that most students followed this requirement, taking courses like Regulation of Financial Markets, Corporate Governance or Public International Law, while others took an optional Cantonese language course to help them interact in their new home.

Nicolas Guadagnolo, Law’16, says that HKU’s stature as a premiere university in the gateway to China makes it a hotbed for scholarship and debate on emerging regional and global issues like anti-corruption, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and financial market regulation.

“I found the courses at HKU to be challenging, engaging, and insightful,” he says. “The global focus of my courses involved researching and working with laws from numerous jurisdictions. I learned to be open to, yet critical of, various legal systems and structures.”
 
Many Queen’s students participate in an exchange in their third year as a capstone to their time in law school, enjoying the opportunity to test their legal education in an international environment. Guadagnolo says he would encourage anyone interested in global issues to consider going on exchange, and endorses HKU as a particularly vibrant place to learn.

“I would highly recommend the experience to anyone,” says Libby Nixon. “Hong Kong exceeded all my expectations.”