Harvard Law School students enroll in Winter Term for three weeks in January. While all first-year students participate in the 1L January Experiential Term at HLS, second- and third-year and LL.M. students may select an intensive course on the HLS campus, pursue a clinical opportunity, or conduct supervised research and writing in Cambridge or elsewhere.
Many students use Winter Term as a time to further explore international aspects of law and sometimes travel abroad to do so. Winter Term projects have enabled students to work for the South African Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, conduct research on Japan’s agricultural trade policy, examine antiquities trafficking in Guatemala, and evaluate Laos’ environmental laws in relation to hydropower projects. Other projects have taken HLS students to Cambodia, China, Guyana, Haiti, India, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Russia, South Sudan, and Switzerland, to name a few.
Please note that HLS students may not take courses at a foreign law school as a way of earning credit for Winter Term.
The Winter Term International Travel Grant Program provides funding to Harvard Law School J.D. and LL.M. students to pursue independent clinical or research/writing projects abroad during Winter Term.