When I offered a course entitled “Environmental Law: American and Comparative Approaches” at the Law Academy, I was surprised that 80 students showed up (rather than the expected 20). After some discussion we decided to divide the students into two third year classes and two fourth year classes. This provides a class size that makes it possible to have more interaction and class discussion. Since my teaching style is to move about the classroom and to try to involve the students in role-playing and active participation, the smaller class size is important.

Ukraine is at a crucial point in the development of its environmental (or ecological) protection program. The country has many good laws. However, as other countries (including the United States during 1970s and '80s) have learned, it takes time and experience - as well as a sense of the rule of law - to enforce the laws properly and secure their goals. So, what I have tried to do in my course has been to examine some of the basic building blocks (or tools as I sometimes call them in class) that are found in the environmental protection laws. I try to show how these building blocks work both in theory and in practice. I also try to show their shortcomings - one legal technique does not fit all situations. We also watched several films based on true events which dramatized some of the legal issues we discussed in class. My goal at the end of the course is that the students will have an appreciation as well as the legal knowledge of how environmental protection can be accomplished in a variety of ways.

I have been asked on a number of occasions about differences between students at the Law Academy and students at my home university (Cumberland Law School, Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama). The most obvious difference is age. In the United States, law students are older. They have already spent at least four years earning a Bachelor's degree in a discipline other than law and many have also had some employment experience. So when a typical law student comes to law school, he or she is at least 22 and more than likely a year or two older than that. They also have had more academic preparation and have had a bit more experience with the real world. This is important, because in American legal education we expect our students to draw on all that experience in learning how to use the law to solve a client's legal problems. The emphasis is not so much on learning a body of legal rules as it is in how are those legal rules to be used in dealing with the concerns that a client may have.

At home I primarily teach subjects concerning the environment: Environmental Law, International Environmental Law, Natural Resources and Coastal and Ocean Law. I teach these courses to second and third year students who are the older students who have become acclimated to the legal process. (In the United States, law is a three-year graduate program leading to a Juris Doctor degree.) However, I do occasionally teach entering first year students. It is these students of whom I am most reminded by my students here at the Law Academy. Of course the Law Academy students are closer in age, but they also have the same eagerness and excitement about learning something new. I have found the Law Academy students to be bright, conscientious, and inquisitive. It is exciting and challenging for me as a teacher to participate in their exploration.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Law Academy and in Odesa. I have had the opportunity to participate in several student Roundtables and Conferences. I have met colleagues in other departments and learned a bit about the range of research going on at the Academy. I am very impressed by the level of expertise that is available here. I have been made to feel very much at home by the members of the International Relations Office. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to share this time with you.