The International Environmental Law stream, launched in 2025, begins with a two-week introductory course, the first week of which is taken jointly with students in the other two streams. Classes in the IEL stream then consider the governance of oceans, air and space; international environmental law; and the international legal response to climate change.
Courses
- Introduction to International Law in the Anthropocene (3 credits)
- The Law of Oceans, Air and Space (3 credits)
- International Environmental and Climate Law (3 credits)
Expected Field Study Destinations
- International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Hamburg)
- Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Bonn)
- Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Bonn)
- Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn)
- United Nations Environment Programme (Geneva)
- International Institute for Sustainable Development (Geneva)
- CITES Secretariat (Geneva)
- World Trade Organization (Geneva)
- Canadian Mission (Geneva)
- Palais des Nations (Geneva)
2025 Instructors (Full Bios)
| Ms. Alison Mitchell is a former lawyer and diplomat at Global Affairs Canada, specializing in the law of armed conflict, international human rights law, international criminal law, targeted sanctions, and the law of the sea. Prior to joining Canada's foreign ministry, she worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. |
| Dr. Usha Natarajan is Law and Political Economy Faculty Fellow at Yale Law School, Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Honorary Fellow at the University of the West Indies (Mona), and Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School. She was Associate Professor of International Law at the American University in Cairo from 2010 to 2020, and she has also held fellowships at Columbia, McGill, York, UBC, and Dalhousie, and worked with the United Nations, UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank. |
