Distributed Graduate Seminars: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Studying Land Conservation

15 Pages Posted: 15 Jul 2011 Last revised: 1 Jul 2013

See all articles by Jessica Owley

Jessica Owley

University of Miami - School of Law

Adena R. Rissman

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Date Written: June 30, 2011

Abstract

Adapting to the many changes associated with climate change is an increasingly important issue and nowhere more so than in efforts to conserve private land. Interdisciplinary distributed graduate seminars conducted in Spring 2011 at six universities investigated whether current land conservation laws and institutions appear up to the task of protecting land in the context of change and avenues for improving the adaptive capacity of such institutions.

Distributed graduate seminars are courses coordinated among multiple universities. They begin with a core of interested faculty who organize graduate students at their universities to collect or analyze dispersed data. This article gives a brief introduction to distributed graduate seminars and then details the experience and insights gained conducting such a seminar for land conservation and climate change. The distributed graduate seminar offers advantages by allowing for the synthesis of diverse data, the integration of multiple disciplinary perspectives, and the person-power enabled by student research. For students, the distributed seminar provides opportunities to engage with a broader academic community, benefit from new perspectives, and contribute in a meaningful way to a large endeavor.

Suggested Citation

Owley, Jessica and Rissman, Adena R., Distributed Graduate Seminars: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Studying Land Conservation (June 30, 2011). Pace Enviromental Law Review Online Companion, Vol. 2, p. 88, 2011, Buffalo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2012-003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1875968

Jessica Owley (Contact Author)

University of Miami - School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 248087
Coral Gables, FL 33146
United States

Adena R. Rissman

University of Wisconsin-Madison ( email )

1630 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1481
United States

HOME PAGE: http://fwe.wisc.edu/facstaff/rissman

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