Iowa Law offers a visiting scholar program designed for academics, judges, and lawyers from around the world who are conducting scholarly research.

The program is designed to meet the varying needs of scholars who engage in substantial research projects for which the university’s outstanding Law Library, with its extensive collections of U.S., foreign, international, and comparative legal materials, can be of considerable assistance. The Law Library is one of the three largest academic law libraries in the United States, with over 1.4 million volumes and volume equivalents. Visiting scholars enjoy full access to the Law Library’s facilities and resources, including Westlaw, Lexis Advance, and Bloomberg Law, to pursue their individual research agendas. Visiting scholars also receive an individual carrel in the Law Library with Internet access and electrical outlets.

Here is a brief video about the Law Library and its extraordinary resources and collections:

Viewers in China can watch the same video on Youku here.

The visiting scholar program is intended for faculty members in law or cognate fields at universities throughout the world. It is also intended for individuals engaged in doctoral or post-doctoral studies.

The College of Law welcomes about 20-25 visiting scholars annually. Their visits vary in length, but most stay one or two semesters.

We welcome visiting scholars as participants in the intellectual life of the College of Law. For example, the College of Law offers a colloquium for visiting scholars, graduate law students, and faculty to discuss matters of intellectual interest and present works in progress. Visiting scholars are invited to participate in the colloquium and may also be invited to present their work to the entire Iowa Law faculty. Visiting scholars also are welcome to observe classes with the permission of the professor.

In addition to the resources and intellectual community offered by the College of Law, research scholars have access to the full range of intellectual and cultural activities at the University of Iowa and in Iowa City. Frequently the interests of visiting scholars bring them into contact with faculty in other colleges and departments of the University of Iowa such as business, economics, philosophy, or sociology, or in interdisciplinary centers such the University Center for Human Rights.

For information on how to apply to the visiting scholar program, please click here.