College of Law
Study Space II BOGOTA, COLOMBIA Program
Study Space II will take place in the vibrant Colombian capitol, Bogotá. In the last 17 years, Bogotá has undergone a celebrated transformation under the leadership of a series of mayors focused on radical changes to the city’s built and physical environment.
The city has worked to define and realize a new urban project for Bogotá. In November 2006, Bogotá received the coveted Golden Lion Prize at the 10th Venice Architecture Biennial. The city’s transformation has forced it to confront a series of old and new challenges, both theoretical and practical. Many heated conflicts have arisen over the concept and use of property as an individual, private right, leading to pressures for a series of measures to protect social order, environmental quality and cultural diversity.
Study Space II will examine three issues central to understanding 21st century Bogotá, all of which are in tension with the Western private property tradition: (1) extralegal property and efforts to eliminate it; (2) limitations on private property to secure social and environmental justice ends; and (3) legal protections accorded to indigenous people in urban Colombia, especially those living under collective property regimes.
The coordinator of Study Space II will be Dr. Daniel Bonilla Maldonado, Professor of Law at the University of the Andes in Bogotá. Dr. Bonilla is the author of the leading monograph on the constitutional protection accorded multiculturalism under the Colombian constitution of 1991. He received his S.J.D. from Yale Law School, and supervises continuing projects studying law and multiculturalism, both theoretical and applied, gathering data in interdisciplinary research in the extralegal communities of Bogotá’s rapidly growing periphery.
Study Space II requires participants to observe these daily commitments: (1) attend the morning lectures and field study experiences, (2) attend the evening’s study dinners, (3) read a packet of background legal and other materials prior to the session, and (4) lead one or more structured discussions on the readings and the day’s field visits during one or more study dinners.
COST AND TRAVEL DETAILS
The total cost for this week, which includes single-occupancy accommodations (six nights total), breakfast daily, events admissions, gratuities, speaker honoraria, translation, airport ground transportation in Colombia and all ground transport while in Colombia is $650.00 US. Airline tickets must be purchased separately.
Persons from the Global South or those with no or limited institutional support may apply for limited subsidies to help offset the cost of participation. To be considered for such a subsidy, or if you have special concerns or circumstances, contact Professor Colin Crawford at ccrawfordgsu.edu.
LANGUAGE
Spanish language ability is strongly encouraged. Although translators will be engaged to assist the group, where presentations are in Spanish, translation will not always be available.
SECURITY
Study Space II anticipates no safety problems. Participants will, on all scheduled excursions, be in the company of Bogotanos who know the city well. Information on travel advisories can be obtained from the U.S. State Department Web site at http://travel.state.gov.
POST-PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT
Study Space II participants are expected to produce a piece of writing (minimum 2,500 words) suitable for publication, within 90 days of the group’s return from Bogotá, or June 15, 2008. The pieces produced will be collected and published in symposium format either in hard copy print (in a suitable review for this subject) or published in electronic form on the Web sites of the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth and/or the Latino & Latina Critical Theory, Inc.
DAILY SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 9, 2008
- 9 a.m.: Breakfast and welcome including presentation of study schedule for the week, a tour of city center and orientation and location of Bogotá, and explanation of new urban project
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Monday, March 10, 2008
- 8:30 - 10 a.m.: Lecture on transformation of Bogotá from 1995-2007
- 10:30 a.m. - noon: Visit to public libraries, schools and Simón Bolívar Park to understand important examples of Bogotá’s social and physical transformation
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
- 8:30 - 10 a.m.: Lecture on extralegal property and legal pluralism in Colombia
- 10:30 a.m. - noon: Visit to Ciudad Bolívar - Casucá, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Bogotá, where an extralegal property system rules
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
- 8:30 - 10 a.m.: Lecture on the recuperation of Bogotá’s public space
- 10:30 a.m.: Visit to the Park of the 3rd Millennium to examine social consequences generated by limiting rights to private property
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Thursday, March 13, 2008
- 8:30 - 10 a.m.: Lecture on the environmental transformation of Bogotá
- 10:30 a.m. - noon: Visit to Cerros Orientales and the wetlands of Ciudadela Colsubsidio to study consequences of legal norms
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Friday, March 14, 2008
- 8:30 - 10 a.m.: Lecture on collective property and cultural diversity
- 10:30 a.m. - noon: Visit to Muisca indigenous reservation, speak with reservation leaders about cultural integrity and political autonomy
- 6 p.m.: Group study dinner
Saturday, March 15, 2008
- 9 a.m.: Group meeting over breakfast
- Noon: Goodbye lunch at a farm on Bogotá’s outskirts
- 6 p.m.: Participants depart
To be considered as a participant, please fill out the application on the flip side and send it no later than January 7, 2008 to: Karen Butler, Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth, Georgia State University College of Law, P.O. Box 4037, Atlanta, GA 30302. You may also e-mail the application to her at kpbutlergsu.edu. For more details, call 404.413.9082.
