Last May we lost Professor Erik Bluemel, however, thanks to the generosity of his family, who donated all of his books to us, the Law Library, as well as current and future students of the Sturm College of Law, have acquired many, many new titles. As one might expect, these are primarily in the areas in which Erik taught; administrative law, the environment, and indigenous law, but there are also a few more general, but very useful books related to law.
Over the next several weeks Hearsay will feature highlights and comments concerning these valuable contributions to our community which I have somewhat arbitrarily divided up into various categories based on Erik’s teaching assignments and interests. When you pick up any of the books to which you will be introduced, look inside the cover for the bookplate commemorating Professor Erik Bluemel. And please add your comments to Hearsay about any of these titles and/or about your memories of Erik.
When you look at Erik’s areas of specialty, you find that they demonstrate a harmony of thought. Based on very brief conversations with Erik, and the privilege of attending many of his class sessions, it is my understanding that his interest in Indigenous Peoples came first, but he had to make a living, so…teach environmental law, which is so central to Indigenous Peoples, and follow-up with administrative law, which is so central to environmental law (ah…implementation!). I am guessing that it was his passion for Indigenous Peoples and their issues which motivated his understanding and patience with (what can be) tedious, detailed areas of law. And he was so excited to teach his first class in Indigenous Peoples law. His deep understanding of the topic was brought home to me by his research request to find a piece of Ainu epic poetry. And he wanted every book and article ever written about indigenous peoples. For each class session (twice a week for the entire semester) he reviewed 150-200 articles. When I asked if he was a speed reader, he said, “no,” but he loved having this excuse to read all the things he’d always wanted to read but had never had the time for. Now, because he was teaching the class, he felt he could at least review it all. He was so looking forward to teaching the class again in Spring 2010.
In the next posting in this series, look for Erik’s environmental law collection… and if you are interested in pursuing an LLM degree in International Environmental Law, please consider applying for the Erik Bluemel International Environmental Law Scholar program by March 5, 2010.
These posts on the donations from Prof. Erik Bluemel's family to the Law Library's collection were written by Joan Policastri, Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian.
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