Historic Preservation Seminar LAW 743

Course Number: LAW 743; ULWR

Course Credits: 2

This seminar examines the law applicable to archaeological, architecturally significant and other historic structures and cultural sites. The legal rationale behind police power regulations is studied, as are the alternative means of protection at local, state and federal levels of government. Private property tools and tax incentives are reviewed. The conflicts between preservation laws and other social values, the use of religious sites protected by the First Amendment, and the scope of "regulatory takings" are featured. Students are graded based on class participation and either a research paper or a project applying preservation laws to an actual factual setting. One class will be devoted to the presentation of papers and/or projects where students offer each other input and comment. The topics must be selected and approved by the professor before the fourth class. In addition, each student must give a 5 to 10 minute presentation on some relevant property or issue of note.