A GUIDE FOR LAW STUDENTS INTERESTED IN CROSS-REGISTERING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLASSES OUTSIDE THE LAW SCHOOL
The many departments at UC Berkeley outside the law school provide an amazing range of opportunities for students to explore their interests in environmental law, policy, science, and management. Classes in three departments may be of particular interest to law students: Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM), the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), and Environmental Design. A separate memo contains information for law students interested in classes in ESPM. This memo contains information about opportunities in ERG and Environmental Design.
In order to encourage Boalt students to take advantage of these opportunities, CCELP (in cooperation with the faculty at ERG and Environmental Design) has compiled the following information about:
Courses at ERG and Environmental Design which are suitable for non-specialist graduate students (such as law students) and whose faculty are willing to admit law students into their class; and,
The logistics of how Boalt students can cross-register for classes at ERG and Environmental Design.
CLASSES OPEN TO BOALT STUDENTS
The following classes at ERG and Environmental Design are suitable for cross-registration by law students – i.e., the classes do not require an extensive technical background or prerequisites. The instructors of these classes have also indicated their willingness to admit law students into their classes. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list – other classes may be added in the future, and Boalt students are encouraged to explore other classes which appear relevant to their course of study. More information about classes in general can be found at:
http://erg.berkeley.edu/erg/courses/
http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/courses/fall2006 (for classes in landscape architecture and environmental planning)
http://dcrp.ced.berkeley.edu/courses/offeredcourses (for classes in city and regional planning)
ERG 100/200: Energy and Society Units: 4 Instructor: Dan Kammen Course Description: In this course, you will develop an understanding and a real working knowledge of our energy technologies, policies, and options. This will include analysis of the different opportunities and impacts of energy systems that exist within and between groups defined by national, regional, household, ethnic, gender distinctions. Analysis of the range of current and future energy choices will be stressed, as well as the role of energy in determining local environmental conditions, and the global climate. Website: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~kammen/er100/ Additional Information: This class should be useful to law students interested in energy policy, including electricity deregulation and climate change.
Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 237: The Process of Environmental Planning Units: 3 Instructor: Timothy P. Duane Course Description: A review of the techniques used in environmental planning, and evaluation of alternative means of implementation in varying environmental and political circumstances. The class will examine and critique the established processes of environmental planning and its resulting plans. Lectures and discussion will address recurrent planning problems, such as the limitations of available data, legal and political constraints on plans, and conflicts among specialists. We will also explore how the field of environmental planning and its institutional context are evolving after more than three decades of formal practice. How useful are the rational-comprehensive methods and principles of Ian McHarg’s “Design with Nature” today, and what can explain their limited application to date? Is environmental planning a “rational” process, or does it involve social and political considerations that are difficult to quantify or model with the technical “expertise” of most environmental planners? How does the institutional context of environmental planning affect modeling and plan implementation? How can we “reform” environmental planning institutions to learn from the past 30 years? What is the role of environmental planners—as technicians, facilitators, storytellers, or some combination? These are pressing issues in the field. The course will be include a mix of theoretical ideas, methods of environmental planning, and development of an understanding of the dominant social and institutional processes of modern environmental planning. The rest of our time will be spent grappling with several real-world cases. The real-world cases have different social and institutional contexts and outcomes. Additional Information: This class provides a broader context for legal doctrines in environmental analysis (e.g., NEPA and CEQA law) and for the legal requirements of comprehensive planning required by many states for zoning and land-use and by federal statute for management of the National Forests, National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and BLM lands. Students interested in planning and environmental analysis accordingly might be interested in this class.
LOGISTICS OF TAKING ERG OR ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CLASSES
Qualifying classes and total number of credits
Boalt students may count towards their JD degree up to eight credits of work taken in classes offered by Berkeley departments outside the law school. Those classes must be upper-division (100 series) or graduate-level (200 series) classes and must be taken for a grade. All of the classes listed above are upper-division classes that can count towards the eight credit limit.
Students should also note that any credits for classes taken outside the law school will also be count towards the maximum number of fifteen credits that can be granted for law journal, independent research, externships and clinical work.
The Petition Process
Boalt students should pick up a petition form from the Registrar’s office and fill it out with the relevant information. Boalt students will then need to receive approval from Dean of Students Ortiz for their petition – barring unusual circumstances, the classes listed above will generally be approved by the Dean of Students for cross-registration credit. The student will then need to take the petition form to the instructor of the non-law school class for their approval. Again, barring unusual circumstances (such as abnormally high enrollment from law students in a class or a determination by the professor that the law student would not benefit from the class), the classes listed above will generally be approved by the instructor for cross-registration credit.
Calendar and Scheduling Issues
There are significant differences between the law school calendar and the calendar for other departments on the Berkeley campus that Boalt students should be aware of. First, following the standard campus calendar, ERG and Environmental Design classes start a week later than Boalt classes. Second, also following the standard campus custom, ERG and Environmental Design classes generally start ten minutes after the hour and finish on the hour. Accordingly, we do not recommend that Boalt students schedule a law school class immediately before or after an ERG or Environmental Design class.
Questions
If you have any questions about cross-registering for classes outside the law school, or would like to see other classes added to the list, please contact Professor Eric Biber.
