What are undercover investigations? Why do animal advocacy organizations conduct them? In this course, students will explore a variety of legal considerations as they relate to conducting undercover investigations of animal operations. Specifically, students will examine the intersection of criminal law, tort, and ethical issues, as well as what does and does not constitute actionable animal cruelty. We will discuss evidentiary issues, taking action/pursuing litigation, and corporate liability.

This class will examine the environmental health threat posed by the class of “forever” chemicals known as PFAS and consider the strengths and limitations of various legal tools and advocacy strategies to address the PFAS crisis. The class will look at the many difficulties posed by seeking to solve an environmental health problem once it has already proliferated throughout our society and economy.

When the Constitution was drafted, Blacks were legally classified as property. Since then, the Emancipation Proclamation, 14th Amendment, and Civil Rights legislation have attempted to eliminate the anti-human treatment of the descendants of enslaved Africans. Unfortunately, these changes appear to be fundamentally at odds with American democracy’s allegiance to the Founding Fathers’ definition of property rights as witnessed in gross inequities throughout American institutions.  

Offshore wind development in the US is growing at a rapid pace as companies pour hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain offshore leases from the federal government and the right to invest billions more to develop, construct and operate massive offshore wind farms. This course will examine the statutory and regulatory frameworks that govern offshore renewable energy leases and the permitting requirements associated with project development and construction and the ways in which they have been challenged in the courts.

This course will examine the common law and statutory underpinnings of coastal resource ownership and use. Taught along one of the longest coastlines in the United States, this class will explore real life conflicts stemming from competing interests, including working waterfronts, energy development, conservation, and recreation. Given the field study nature, students will have the opportunity to speak directly with leaders– from attorneys to fishermen– at the forefront of coastal resource conflict. 

Shifting the global economy off of fossil fuels while pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals, such as reducing income inequality, requires harnessing the power of the private sector in new ways.  Using a series of case studies of inspiring sustainability pathbreakers working in renewable energy, organic foods, water, finance, and fair trade, the course explores how social enterprises, such as cooperatives and B Corp, pursue the triple bottom line. 

Introduces students to the major legal issues that arise regarding intergenerational, family-owned real estate commonly referred to as heirs’ property. The main topics will span owner rights and responsibilities, clearing title, policy, and succession planning. Also explores intersectional issues and how protecting heirs’ property can address them. 

The approximately two million farmworkers who grow our food are essential to this country. Yet they are often overlooked in national policy efforts on issues ranging from immigration law to environmental justice. In some areas, like labor rights and occupational health and safety, they are explicitly denied certain basic protections. This course will detail farmworkers’ current living and working conditions as well as the history of their exclusion from key laws and regulations.