Legal Studies 494EI - Envrmtl & Pub Pol Dspte Res

This course is based in a socio-legal inquiry into leading questions facing scholars and practitioners, as well as a public who daily faces the consequences of environmental and public policy disputes. We will examine U.S. and international case studies, hear from guest speakers who are mediators, and read core texts from the fields of Legal Studies and Conflict Resolution as well as related scholarship from a variety of disciplines: Political Science, Public Policy, Geography, Environmental Studies, Computer Science, and Public Health, for example. How has dispute resolution enhanced democratic participation in decision making on crucial environmental issues? How have the administrative and judicial branches of government used dispute resolution in environmental conflicts of public import? How is technology impacting the public nature of disputing and what role can artificial intelligence play? We will explore such questions in this study of environmental and public policy dispute resolution. Satisfies the Integrative Experience requirement.

Open to Senior and Junior Legal Studies majors only. Consent of the instructor for non-Legal Studies majors. Contact instructor at: lwing@legal.umass.edu