Curriculum

Required Courses

a) Thesis-based LLM

Graduate students enrolled in the thesis-based LLM program must take both Law 703: Graduate Seminar in Legal Research & Methodology and Law 705: Graduate Seminar in Legal Theory and two (2) elective courses in natural resources, energy or environmental law or a related area.

b) Course-based LLM

Those enrolled in the course-based LLM program must take Law 703: Graduate Seminar in Legal Research & Methodology and five (5) elective courses in natural resources, energy or environmental law or a related area.

c) Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program

Those enrolled in the Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program must take four (4) elective courses in the areas of natural resources, energy or environmental law or a related area.

 

Law 703: Graduate Seminar in Legal Research & Methodology

(Fall term; 2 hours; enrolment limited to LLM students)

The purpose of this course, together with the Graduate Seminar in Legal Theory, is to prepare LLM students to develop, research and write a thesis or major research paper and to assist LLM students in their development as legal scholars. The distinctive nature of legal scholarship and its professional context will be explored. This course will help students define the research question(s) to be answered through their thesis or major research paper and examine research methodologies that assist scholars working in particular areas of law or within specific theoretical frameworks. Students will be introduced to specific research techniques such as quantitative social science research and qualitative social science research (including structured interviews). The challenges of comparative and cross-cultural work will also be addressed. This course will also provide LLM students with a forum to discuss their ongoing research. It will therefore include the development of oral presentation skills for participation in conferences, workshops, etc. Assignments: Short, closed-research paper; statement of thesis or major paper; reiteration of the statement of thesis or major paper; web-based annotated bibliography; and oral presentation.

Law 705: Graduate Seminar in Legal Theory

(Winter term; 2 hours; enrolment limited to LLM students)

This course explores a wide array of schools of legal theory, with the goal of helping students situate their graduate research within one or more of those approaches to legal scholarship. The seminar will be structured primarily around a series of readings describing different theoretical approaches and applying these approaches to the areas of natural resources, energy and environmental law. In addition to discussing the content of these readings, students will also be introduced to the process of reflection that lies behind a piece of scholarship by exploring why and how the various authors pursue their research questions, and why those questions are important. Assignments: Literature review of a perspective on law; and oral workshop presentation of thesis and its theoretical perspective.

Elective Courses

• Law 529: Biotechnology and the Law
• Law 531: Environmental Law
• Law 567: Law and Economics
• Law 571: Oil and Gas Law
• Law 573: Public Lands and Natural Resources Law
• Law 579: Theoretical Foundations
• Law 583: Water Law
• Law 594: Aboriginal Law
• Law 597: International Trade Law

• Law 605: Oil and Gas Contracts
• Law 617: Alternative Energy Law: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
• Law 623: Environmental Impact Assessment Law
• Law 624: Environmental Law and Ethics
• Law 625: Intellectual Property Transactions
• Law 626: International Development Law
• Law 627: International Environmental Law
• Law 628: International Investment Law
• Law 630: International Petroleum Transactions
• Law 634: Law of Species and Spaces
• Law 637: Energy Law
• Law 641: Oil and Gas and Mining Taxation
• Law 645: Pollution Control and Waste Management Law
• Law 647: Regulatory Theory and the Law
• Law 653: Directed Research
• Law 691: Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Clinical

Please see the course descriptions for the above list of courses.

The scheduling of these courses and related information is available on the Current Students' s Timetables / Registration page.