Each spring, the Metro Growth Center sponsors a comparative law course in which distinguished scholars from around the world lead small, focused seminars about land use planning and environmental law in their countries. Typically, the course is taught by three visiting professors.
Students should register for the course called International Perspectives on Urban Law and Policy (LAW 7397). It is offered as a two or three credit hour course. Students seeking to earn 2 credit hours will take an exam after each visiting professor’s seminar, for a total of three exams. Students seeking to earn 3 credit hours will write a short paper in addition to taking the three exams.
This course is not restricted to law students. Students from other graduate departments at Georgia State University and Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning are encouraged to take the class. There are no pre-requisites.
The next foreign enrichment course will be offered in Spring 2013 on Monday and Wednesdays from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Please note this course does not meet every week and follows the schedule set forth below.
This year's schedule of visiting professors includes:
January 13-30: Romulo Sampaio is a teacher and researcher at the FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a member of the prestigious Specialist Group on Energy and Climate Change of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Professor Sampaio's sessions will focus on the environmental challenges facing metropolitan growth management in Brazil, policy tools for sustainable land use management, biodiversity conservation, and conservation practices, as well as a look at Brazilian case studies.
February 10-26: Ray Young practices law with Young Anderson Barristers and Solicitors in Vancouver, BC, focusing on judicial review litigation, local government law and governance, growth management, planning and land use, and real estate development. He has a Master's Degree in Community and Regional Planning and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. His sessions will focus on examining the structure of planning and land use powers, the advent of growth management as a concept, the structure of the growth management strategy for Metro Vancouver, and the Canadian approach to impact fees and regulatory takings.
April 7-23: Ellen Margrethe Basse is a Professor of Environmental Law at the School of Business and Social Science at Aarhus University in Denmark. She was former Director of the Centre on Social Science Research on the Environment, Director of Studies, Master in Environmental and Energy Law, and head of the Climate Secretariat and President of the Climate Panel at AU. She has published widely (books as well as articles) on environmental, energy, climate and public law. Her sessions will focus on environmental law and climate change.
In a comparative law course, students will study the laws and legal systems in foreign countries and compare them to the laws in the United States. Students will deepen their understanding of the world, and the policies and values outside of the United States. Comparative law has become increasingly important in today's global economy.
