Integrating the Undergraduate Experience: A Course on Environmental Dispute Resolution

Abstract

This paper describes a rigorous undergraduate course on environmental dispute resolution. Students get hands‐on experience in negotiation cases, developing skills and building theoretical understanding through a series of exercises. With this foundation, the students advance to an extended role‐playing case study on oil exploration in the Ecuadorian rain forest. The course provides an integration function both in terms of understanding environmental issues, but also in modeling reality, encouraging action, and building process tools that are essential in addressing environmental and social challenges facing the planet.