All VLS Courses

New Frontiers in Environmental Policies

Explores the proposition that successfully coping with today's environmental threats requires deeper challenges to our prevailing system of political economy than mainstream environmentalism in the United States has been willing to mount.  The course develops the idea that a new American environmentalism is needed and with it new environmental policy and law that go beyond the traditional realm of environmental affairs. 

Nonprofit Management

An overview of management subjects facing nonprofit organizations, including resource development, leadership and governance, staffing, planning and policy, resource management and reporting, communications, and stewardship

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Non-Profit Organizations

Examines nonprofit law, policy and practice. The course focuses on the issues surrounding the creation of a tax-exempt charitable organization at the state and federal levels, raising money for that organization, unrelated business income, lobbying and political activity, board of directors and managerial liability, and dissolution of the organization. 

Nuclear Power and Public Policy

Encompasses the regulation of nuclear safety, economics, and technology, as well as nuclear waste, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear energy policy. The primary focus is on nuclear energy in the U.S., but European and Asian nuclear programs are also considered.

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Ocean and Coastal Law

A review of domestic and international laws and treaties relating to coastal management, pollution, protected areas, endangered species, fish, marine mammals, wetlands, and seabed mineral and hydrocarbon resources. The course considers how effectively these legal authorities blend together to provide rational and comprehensive management and protection of marine resources.

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Oil and Gas Production and the Environment

Examines the legal and regulatory framework of domestic and international upstream and downstream oil and gas activities. Explores key domestic statutory and common law sources, regulations, and industry standards. Surveys selected international and comparative materials such as oil spill prevention agreements, arbitral decisions, and technical regulations.

Privacy Law

In the 21st century, we are all witnesses to, actors in, and subjects/objects of something often called the "Information Age". For about a century, law has sought to define the "privacy rights" of individuals to control personal information held by others. Modern lawyers advocate on privacy issues in new and complex contexts. This course provides students with an understanding of the fundamentals of privacy law and the training to reason analogically to accommodate emergent technologies within existing legal frameworks.

Property

An introduction to the concept of ownership and its legal implications: rights to control, enjoy, and transfer real and personal property, including public and private restrictions on use; estates in land; concurrent ownership; adverse possession; easements and licenses; and landlords and tenants.

Public Health Implications of U.S. Agriculture and Food Policy

An in-depth exploration of agricultural and food laws and the policies and regulatory mechanisms supporting them. The course covers diverse public health issues including Farm Bill nutrition assistance programs, food access, obesity and malnutrition, food safety and food-borne diseases, genetically modified foods, organic and other certification schemes, and the debate about food systems and sustainability.

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Public Lands Management - Montana Field Study

A comparative approach to competing legal mandates and diverse philosophies that make federal land management a lively topic not only in the West, but throughout the country. Resource extraction, preservation, and sustainable/multiple-use concepts are addressed. 

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