"Comparative Latin American Mining Law" Course Passes "Half Way" Mark

The one-week intensive course "Comparative Latin American Mining Law" has now passed the half-way point. The course began Monday morning and will run through Friday afternoon. The days have been long and filled with information and discussion.

There were several objectives behind holding the one-week course. First, DU wanted to attract two of the best Latin American mining lawyers to teach the course. To ask such individuals to spend a semester at DU is not entirely realistic, so we thought that by offering an intense one-week session we could attract the best professionals to DU.

Second, we wanted to offer a course in a format that was useful to students looking to earn credit in a "non traditional manner." Put another way, we were hearing from students that they were willing to commit a week of intense effort to earn three credits. Finally, we hoped that the offering would allow a relatively small group of students to get well acquainted with the expert adjunct professors.

We are not quite to Friday afternoon yet, but I think it is now safe to say that we are well on our way to establishing the benefit of the short course format. This course is being taught by two of Latin America's most talented and experienced mining lawyers, Florencia Heredia of Buenos Aries, Argentina, and Luis Carlos Rodrigo of Lima, Peru. Ms. Heredia and Mr. Rodrigo are widely considered among the top five -- and perhaps the top two -- mining lawyers in Latin America. Students can never go wrong when they are learning from the top professionals in a particular sector.

Meanwhile, the reaction of students to the "short course format" has been positive, and several have thanked DU for organizing this course.

Finally, the students and the adjuncts are really getting to know each other. Clearly the objective of a course is not necessarily to establish a life-long friendship between students and teachers. On the other hand, however, the ability of students to interact with and observe the expertise of people such as Ms. Heredia and Mr. Rodrigo should not be taken lightly. Learning from such individuals can be a fulfilling -- and in many respects inspiring -- experience.

This evening, for example, we had a somewhat impromptu (thanks to my not getting organized earlier!) get together after class where our adjuncts and the students shared an opportunity to get acquainted in a social setting. Latin American beer, wine, snacks, and a brilliantly blue Colorado late afternoon sky punctuated by a handful of puffy white clouds served as the setting for a wonderful get together. How often does one get to have an informal chat with the best of the best? Not often, but today that's exactly what took place in Denver.

Attracting the top experts to teach about a cutting-edge topic (there will be many, many opportunities to develop mining in Latin America) to a talented group of students is a recipe for a strong and vibrant graduate program.

At DU we are excited about the flexibility the short course format provides us and we are committed to making individuals such as Ms. Heredia and Mr. Rodrigo a key part of our program. Tomorrow I'll write more about the course itself.

Stay tuned. We are just getting started.