Cambridge Study Abroad Program

Why Choose the Program?

A Great Summer in England; A Professional Door Opened On the World! Whether you are looking for an exciting change of pace after your first or second year of law school or you are considering a career in international practice, the Cambridge Summer Session may be the experience place for you.

Professional Enrichment Experiences

Our summer classes are taught by members of the Cambridge University Law Faculty and by law professors from the Universities of Mississippi, Arkansas-Fayetteville, Tennessee, and Nebraska. Outside the classroom, you can learn first-hand about the English legal system. Each summer, the program takes a day-long excursion to London to visit the Royal Courts of Justice and the Middle Temple Inn of Court. 

The Perfect Location

The Cambridge Summer Session offers a great place for professional advancement, and much, much more. With classes four days a week, there is ample time both to study and to explore your surroundings. Downing College is in the heart of the city of Cambridge, an hour north of London. Cambridge is a vibrant, beautiful combination of the ancient and the thoroughly modern, including medieval churches and colleges, dance clubs, lush green parks, riverside pubs, cinemas, and shopping centers, as well as a centuries-old open market. Rural England—charming villages, peaceful streams, sheep meadows—is only a few minutes from Downing’s gates. All of Britain, as well as Ireland, Paris and Amsterdam, are within reach for the three-day weekends that our four-day class schedule permits.

Cambridge University and Downing College — Centers of Academic Excellence

Cambridge University and its colleges together constitute one of the most important—and beautiful—academic institutions in the world. Founded in 1209, the University is over 800 years old. Sir Isaac Newton, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Lord Tennyson, John Maynard Keynes, A.A. Milne (author of Winnie the Pooh), Stephen Hawking, Prince Charles, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and many Nobel Prize winners have all been members of Cambridge colleges. Along with Oxford, Cambridge remains the premier university in the United Kingdom. Both the University as a whole and the law faculty are rated among the best in the world. Downing College, our host institution for the Cambridge Summer Session, is renowned for producing excellent lawyers and legal scholars. From Frederic Maitland, the great English legal historian, to Sir Robert Jennings, Past President of the International Court of Justice, Downing can claim as its own many people who have played leading roles in establishing Cambridge University’s distinguished reputation in the law. On the lighter side, John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, also studied law while a student at Downing (although he apparently came no closer to practice than his role as a barrister in A Fish Called Wanda, for which he wore a Downing College tie in one scene). 

Convenient, Worry-Free Living And Studying

Your home for the Cambridge Summer Session will be in one of several houses owned by Downing College and located on the south side of the main college grounds. You will have a private room with bathroom facilities shared with another student. Towels and linens are provided by the college, as are housekeeping services during the week.

Room and partial board at Downing is a package arrangement. It includes breakfast and lunch, Monday through Thursday during the program, as well as a reception on the first night of the program, and the semi-formal Final Dinner. It is not possible to obtain only a room or only partial board. All students are expected to live in Downing College, absent documented extenuating circumstances.

Classes are held in Downing College lecture rooms or in a nearby Cambridge University lecture theatre. The college library and the University’s Squire Law Library are available during the day on weekdays. Downing College’s coin laundry, computer room, tennis court and playing field may be used and there are numerous sports, restaurant, pub and entertainment facilities within a short walk of the college.

The facilities at Downing College, and in many parts of the city of Cambridge present some difficulties for persons with certain disabilities. For instance, many places can be reached only by narrow stairways. Persons with special needs should contact the resident director, Professor William Berry at wwberry@go.olemiss.edu or (662) 915-6859, prior to enrollment to ascertain whether suitable accommodation is possible.

Long History at Downing College

The program is entering its 40th summer at Downing College. The program continues to operate as a consortium between the University of Mississippi, University of Arkansas, University of Nebraska, and University of Tennessee. After a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we resumed in the summer of 2022.

Applications for 2026 will be available in February. 

Students who have completed their first year of law school and who are currently in good standing at any ABA- or state-accredited law school or recognized Canadian law school are eligible for admission.

To be admitted to the program, you must submit a completed Cambridge Summer Session application, together with a $295 nonrefundable deposit.

 For non-University of Mississippi students, you must submit a letter from your dean or registrar stating that you will have completed your first year prior to the start of the program and that you are in good standing and eligible to continue in your law school program.

Enrollment is limited, so please apply early. Deadline for admission: April 1

Pay your $295 tuition deposit here: https://secure.touchnet.net/C21670_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=1718

Contact Information

The resident program director, Professor Will Berry, can be reached by e-mail at wwberry@go.olemiss.edu.

Written communication should be addressed to:

Cambridge Summer Session
The University of Mississippi School of Law
481 Chucky Mullins Drive University, MS 38677

In Cambridge, Professor Berry has an office at Downing College and coordinates the program with the domestic staff of the college and the Cambridge faculty. He and the Downing staff will be available to assist students with school-related or personal needs. The Head Porter and his staff in the Porters’ Lodge can usually resolve most day-to-day problems.

Courses and Textbooks

International Law (2 credits), Prof. Federica Paddeu

The basic introductory course in the field–the nature, scope, sources and jurisdiction of international law, the law of treaties, the doctrine of state responsibility, international dispute resolution and other topics.

Law and Literature (2 credits), Prof. Will Berry

This is a course about the stories we tell at the intersection of law and literature. How do stories about law translate into fiction? How does our understanding of fiction shape our law? The focus of the class is primarily on cases and short stories related to criminal law, law and society, and the rule of law. We will also incorporate some C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare for good measure.

Comparative Consumer Financial Services Law (2 credits), Prof. Catherine Wilson

This course unpacks the various elements underlying the regulation of consumer finance.  With an emphasis on policy motivations, we will discuss a wide range of consumer financial products related to payment systems, consumer credit, consumer privacy retail investment.  A significant body of law covering actors and products has developed in many nations.  We will explore the different legal and regulatory approaches to this multi-trillion-dollar sector and the impact of technological innovations.   Students seeking to work in plaintiff’s firms, corporate defense firms, non-profits, administrative agencies, and compliance departments of financial institutions will gain a background on the basic laws and regulations.

The Law of the Sea (2 credits), Prof. Robert Anderson

This course is an introduction to the international law of the sea, the branch of international law dealing with the relationship among coastal states, ships, and port states. The course will cover the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as cases from various jurisdictions and other treaties and conventions. The course will cover topics such as drawing boundaries lines in the ocean, commercial shipping, environmental protection, offshore energy and wind installations, submarine cables, seabed mining, and maritime law enforcement, as well as select topics from Admiralty law. The course will also focus on the relationship between the law of the sea and federalism in U.S. law as it governs the allocation of regulatory authority between the federal government and U.S. states.

International Advocacy and Dispute Resolution (2 credits), Prof. Brendan Plant

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion of activity in the area of international dispute settlement. As public international law has broadened in scope and deepened in content – providing today a more detailed system for the regulation of issues like international trade and investment, human rights, environmental protection, territorial sovereignty and maritime activity – so too have new institutions and procedures emerged for the litigation of international disputes. This course aims to survey several of the most important methods available for settling international disputes today and to identify commonalities and differences in their procedures, substance, emphasis and effectiveness. The course will look at the demands facing advocates appearing before a number of prominent international institutions, including the International Court of Justice, investment arbitral tribunals, the World Trade Organisation, international human rights courts, both regional and global, and litigation under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea.

Who Did It Better? A Comparison of Environmental Justice Law in the United States with Those in Select European Countries (2 credits), Prof. Brad Finney

The last several decades have witnessed a global explosion of activity in environmental law. One area of that movement that has only recently received significant attention is environmental justice. This course will examine the history and monumental events in the environmental justice movement and the impacts that this movement has on conditions in minority and low-income communities. Students will study whether (and how) the development and acceptance of environmental justice impacts daily life. This course will focus on the environmental justice movement in the United States and select countries in Europe. This course welcomes everyone—from students who have studied environmental law and/or environmental justice before to those who have no experience with environmental law.

The Financial Aid Budget Outlined below is a breakdown of expenses for the Cambridge Summer Program

Tuition and Fees: $3,995.00

Books and Supplies: $750.00

Room and partial Board*: $5,000.00

Transportation: $2,000.00

Personal: $2,200.00

Remaining Board: $2,000.00

Total: $15,945.00 

*Board is Breakfast and Lunch, Monday-Thursday only; estimate based on current exchange rate.

Financial Aid

Stafford Student Loans and Supplemental Loans for students are available to eligible U.S. law students who enroll in the Cambridge Summer Session. Using a “consortium agreement” between the University of Mississippi and the financial aid office at the student’s home law school is recommended. These agreements allow students to deal directly with the financial aid officers on their campuses. Interested students should talk to the staff in their financial aid office.

Neither the University of Mississippi School of Law, Downing College, nor any of the consortium law schools are responsible for a student’s medical care or expenses in the event of illness or accident. Students must have health insurance that covers them while in the United Kingdom and any other country they intend to visit in connection with the Cambridge Summer Session. Proof of such coverage may be requested by the program administration.

Students who cancel their enrollment by letter postmarked prior to April 15, will receive a full refund of tuition and fees, minus the nonrefundable $295 deposit. Refunds for cancellations or withdrawals after that date will not be made, absent documented emergency circumstances. The University of Mississippi School of Law reserves the right to cancel this program should it become necessary for any reason. In the event that this occurs, notices will be sent to all applicants prior to April 15, and all payments will be completely refunded.