The School of Law builds international relations in China
Director of the Leeds Social Sciences Institute, Adam Crawford visited Universities in China to develop international relations with Schools of Law and Criminal Justice in June 2015.
Adam Crawford Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, now Director of the Leeds Social Sciences Institute, visited three Universities in China to develop international relations with Schools of Law and Criminal Justice in June 2015.
In particular, he was seeking to establish new alliances in the fields of criminal justice and criminology. Whilst there, he delivered a number of presentations to staff and students and discussed possible research collaborations, as well as student and staff exchanges with the criminal justice researchers.
The first stop on Professor Crawford’s trip was the East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL) in Shanghai on 17 June. Here, Professor Crawford met with Professor Xia, Fei -- the Dean of International Exchange and Professor in the Criminal Justice School -- and Professor Su, Caixia -- the Vice Dean.
He also gave a lecture to post graduate students on the new campus and met Wang Xu who is currently studying on the Criminal Justice Masters programme here at the University of Leeds.
Professor Crawford’s second visit was to the Law School at Nanjing University on the 18 and 19 June, where he met with Professor Zheng, Mingy -- the Dean of School of Law; Prof Zhang, Miao -- the Associate Dean of Criminal Justice -- and a number of their colleagues.
He gave a lecture to undergraduate students on 18 June at the new campus and another lecture to staff and postgraduate students on 19 June at the ‘old’ campus in the heart of Nanjing.
The third and final city visited on 23 June was Wuhan where the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL) is located. Here Professor Crawford met with Prof Hu, Xiangyang -- the new Dean of the Criminal Justice School; Prof Xia, Yong -- Dean for International Affairs; Zhou, Ling -- an Associate Professor who visited Leeds -- and various colleagues.
He gave a lecture to staff and postgraduate students and discussed the relations with Leeds and how the SUEL School of Criminal Justice can learn from the development and experiences of criminal justice studies at Leeds.
Reflecting on his visit, Professor Crawford said: “The welcome I received at all three institutions was truly exceptional. Staff and students alike were genuinely interested in the research we are doing – notably within the CCJS and the field of policing – and all were very keen to develop closer collaborations. I am hopeful that my visit can help formalise and advance enhanced relations with our Chinese partner universities notably in criminal justice.”
On the prospects for research collaborations, he elaborated: “The thing that stuck me the most was the extent to which China offers a fascinating test bed for researchers on the immense challenges to social order, security and justice presented by mass urbanisation on a scale never seen before, even in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. This social experiment, writ large, raises fundamental questions about social relations, order and governance, whilst at the same time presents fascinating opportunities for research collaboration and knowledge exchange.”
