(Papers to be published in The Tulane Environmental Law Journal)
Previous AALS panels related to climate change have addressed the increasing importance of including a discussion of climate change in any law school curriculum. The purpose of the proposed panel is to generally discuss the importance of including indigenous people in any discussion related to climate change. Particularly important is the recognition that legal “answers” to climate change may be different when indigenous people are involved. The panel will then focus on how climate change and its impact on indigenous people may be discussed in several different doctrinal areas. Specifically, each presenter will discuss the importance of this subject matter to his or her doctrinal area and include a discussion of how the topic may specifically be incorporated into lesson plans. The proposed topic is innovative in that program attendees will walk away with not only an understanding of why the topic is important but with actual lesson plans and proposed materials to include in their own teaching. The proposed panel builds on previous AALS panel presentations focused on climate change, because it focuses on one aspect of climate change (the impact on indigenous peoples) and how this topic can be effectively taught in a variety of classes.