[Pictured: University of Naples Parthenope]
On May 25, 2022, Temple University and the University of Naples Parthenope signed an agreement that allows for student and faculty mobility between their law schools and the organization of joint international research and study programs. This partnership, Temple’s first in southern Italy, will create a range of synergies grounded in both law schools’ history and strength in international law.
The innovative Temple-Parthenope agreement differs from traditional partnership agreements for semester and year-long study abroad by including cooperation with Temple’s summer abroad in Rome program, where law students at Temple Rome will visit Parthenope’s campus on the Naples coast for discussions on international and European Union law.
This partnership comes of the dedicated work of Dr. Antonio Giordano, a Temple professor of biology and director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and Center of Biotechnology. Dr. Giordano hails from Naples and maintains active ties with many Italian agencies and universities. He has tirelessly supported exchange and collaborative programs between Temple and Italian institutions.
For the inaugural visit to Parthenope on June 9, 2022, Temple students will be greeted by the university’s president, Alberto Carotenuto, and full professor of criminal law, Alberto de Vita. Students will hear lectures on the “Principles of European Law and Governance” by Professor Sara Pugliese and “Introduction to Italian Criminal Law” by Professor Fabrizio Rippa and Attorney Alessandro Milone, a research fellow at Federico II University.
Attorney Milone also visited Temple as a visiting research scholar in 2019-2020 and played a key role in launching this partnership. “I am extremely impressed with Temple Law School,” said Dr. Milone “and I hope that many of our students will be able to take advantage of the same broad curriculum, strong faculty expertise, and welcoming environment that Temple Law School provided me.”
“This agreement is revitalizing international vocation of Parthenope University, which is increasingly carving out a leading role for itself among southern Italian universities,” said Professor De Vita, who also serves as the Director for the Parthenope School for Legal Professions.
“We are thrilled and grateful to give our students and faculty access to Parthenope’s well-recognized strengths in international, trade, maritime, and EU law,” said John Smagula, Assistant Dean for Graduate & International Programs at Temple Law School. “We also welcome Parthenope students to study abroad at Temple in our Master of Laws program and to enrich the environment where we learn from each other.”