Course Schedule
Classes Found
Wall Street Regulation
- MON 3:45 – 6:15 pm TNH 2.138
Course Information
- Course ID:
- 396W
- Experiential learning credit:
- 3 hours
Registration Information
- Upperclass-only elective
- Will not use floating mean GPA
Description
Same as LAW 379M, Wall Street Regulation.
A one-semester course which will cover selected, practical topics concerning Wall Street's regulatory, economic and political environment. We will focus on the nature of investment products, their use and the regulatory structure surrounding them. We will discuss how some misused these products and the impact that has had on the economy. Finally we will look at the government responses to the economy and the success/failure thereof. This class will pull handout materials from articles in major publications, real-time news stories and personal experience. Given the fluid nature of the economy, new information will likely become available during the course and provide timely discussion topics. Therefore, we may veer from the syllabus topics.
The teaching technique will not be a lecture style, but rather a highly participatory Socratic method in which case study, situation analysis and student interaction will be at the core. The instructor will provoke the students and encourage their thoughtful response to the problems and issues so presented. Each student will present on a topic of his/her choice, and the class will have the opportunity to develop their own skills in the areas of: team building, presentation skills, critical thinking, problem diagnosis and problem solving. Class participation and attendance will count towards the final grade. Quizzes may also count towards grading if given.
Students may not earn credit for both, Alt Invest: Lack of Reg/Bailout and Wall Street Regulation.
Wills and Estates
- MON, TUE, WED 10:30 – 11:37 am TNH 2.123
Course Information
- Course ID:
- 489N
Registration Information
- Upperclass-only elective
- Will use floating mean GPA if applicable
Description
Wills and Estates focuses on donative transfers of property. Included are community property, intestate succession, the execution and revocation of wills, frequently recurring drafting problems, the use of trusts, fiduciary administration, future interests, the rule against perpetuities, powers of appointment, estate and gift taxation, and basic estate planning. The course emphasizes Texas law, but it also examines the law of many other jurisdictions, as well as numerous Uniform Acts.
This is a four credit course. There are no prerequisites.
Youth Justice and the Policy Development Process
- WED 2:00 – 5:00 pm SRH 3.220
Course Information
- Course ID:
- 389V
- Cross-listed with:
- Public Affairs
Registration Information
- Upperclass-only elective
- Will not use floating mean GPA
Description
Same as LAW 371V, Youth Justice and the Policy Development Process. This is an LBJ School course, cross-listed with the Law School.
This course examines the policy development process through the lens of juvenile justice. All around the United States, policy-makers are trying to improve the operations of their states’ juvenile justice systems. Guided by both fiscal concerns and research indicating that juveniles are best served in community-based programs, policy-makers are beginning to emphasize local responsibility for juvenile justice rather than state-level incarceration. There is also an increasing emphasis on prevention and rehabilitative services, even as the juvenile systems around the country still function under laws and policies designed during the “tough on crime” period in the 1990s. At the same time, the United States Supreme Court is changing its views about juvenile sentencing, recently eliminating mandatory application of life without parole sentences for youth under age 18 and establishing that “children are different” than adults for criminal justice purposes.
Because youth justice systems are in such tremendous flux, they provide a perfect vehicle for us to examine the various components of the policy development process. We will focus on four “case studies” of shifting youth justice policies, with two or three-week modules on each topic:
- (1) The decarceration of youth confinement facilities;
- (2) The “raise the age” movement to set 18, rather than 16 or 17, as the age when youth become adults for criminal justice purposes;
- (3) Life without parole and extreme sentencing of youth; and
- (4) School discipline and the school-to-prison pipeline.
The massive changes that have occurred (or that have failed to occur) in each of these areas of focus have been the result of a variety of influences and considerations. We will learn about the legislative process (both formal processes and informal fiat); the role of executive branch agencies; the role of the courts and constitutional requirements; the influence of advocacy groups and social justice campaigns; the importance of research and data; budgeting and financial considerations; and the impact of scandals and media coverage. The reality is that good policy doesn’t “just happen”; it is the product of a deliberate process that can be influenced but rarely controlled.
To better understand how these factors have combined to affect policy change in each of the areas of focus, we will gather information from a variety of sources. Our readings will include policy reports, book chapters, news articles, research articles, legislation, court opinions, data analyses, and fiscal notes. We will watch archived video of legislative hearings and attend contemporaneous hearings at the Texas Legislature if the opportunity arises. And to deepen our analysis, we will interview or have guest presentations by various stakeholders who have been intimately involved in the policy development process in each of these focus areas.
We will also have role-playing exercises in which students prepare oral legislative testimony on a particular topic, taking on the persona of various stakeholders in the policy debate, while other students stand in the role of legislators.
Students in this course will gain skills in policy analysis, as well as become better prepared to participate effectively in the policy-making process as legislative staffers, policy analysts, advocates, or citizens. They will also learn a great deal about youth justice issues, in Texas and beyond.
The course will have a heavy reading load, but the material will all be interesting and accessible. Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, a policy memo, their legislative testimony, and a final team research and writing project. There may also be some shorter writing assignments, some of which may not be graded. There is no exam.
This seminar is open to students in both the LBJ School and the Law School and is cross-listed in both schools.