A Look at Undergraduate Research: Climate Change and Law
This post is part of a series that profiles the faculty-undergraduate research partnerships offered through the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning. To learn more, please contact the Center at citl@bu.edu.
This past November, representatives from 195 countries came together for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change conference in effort to create a binding and universal agreement on climate from all the nations of the world. While the environment has been a long-time concern for many, it has increasingly gained momentum as carbon emissions ever-increase and more countries recognize and take ownership for their policies and actions.
As the conversation about environmental protection intensifies, Humanities professor R. Samuel Deese and junior Isabel Keogh (CGS 15, SHA 17) are eagerly researching the life and work of maritime law and environmental protection expert Elisabeth Mann Borgese. As the youngest daughter of the German author and anti-facist Thomas Mann, Elisabeth became concerned with global law and a specific interest in ocean conservation. During the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea from 1973-1982, she served on an expert group that helped define the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. “As the international community struggles to find common ground on environmental issues, her writings on the Law of the Sea will take on great relevance,” shares Deese.
Having grown up in a German-speaking household, Isabel worked with another CGS professor during her sophomore year in a similar manner. Keogh is helping translate the text of the only biography about Borgese, including making an index of key terms and people. After distilling insights, Keogh and Deese meet to discuss. “Translating for Professor Deese has helped me further improve my German; I am diversifying my vocabulary while learning about German literature and history,” Koegh shares. “It’s a great added dimension to my classroom education, as I’m a student in the School of Hospitality.”
Deese plans to present findings in a paper at the World History Association’s 24th Annual Conference in Ghent, Belgium, and include the research in his forthcoming book, Our Spherical Oasis: Climate Change, Democracy and the Global Commons (Springer Verlag. 2017). Keogh plans to pursue a career in event planning, and looks forward to using German when she can.