The Creative Role of the Lawyer – Example: The Office of the World Bank\u27s General Counsel

A presentation before the Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. February 22, 1999

Keynote Address: Orwell\u27s Ghost: How Teletechnology Is Reshaping Civil Society

Keynote Address as prepared for delivery before The 2008 YouTube Election?: The Role and Influence of 21st-Century Media Symposium held on March 13, 2008 at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Copyright © N.J. Slabbert 2008

Keynote Address: Orwell\u27s Ghost: How Teletechnology Is Reshaping Civil Society

Keynote Address as prepared for delivery before The 2008 YouTube Election?: The Role and Influence of 21st-Century Media Symposium held on March 13, 2008 at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Copyright © N.J. Slabbert 2008

Are Medieval Mya arenaria (Mollusca; Bivalvia) in the Netherlands also clams before Columbus?

During the Pleistocene, the coastal marine bivalve mollusc Mya arenaria became extinct in northwest Europe. The species remained present in North America. Datings of Mya shells found in northern Denmark and the southern Baltic Sea suggest that repopulation of northwest European coasts already occurred before Columbus' discovery of America (1492), possibly facilitated by Viking (Norse) settlers at Greenland and northeast North America. In this paper we report on findings of M. arenaria at five locations in the coastal landscape of the Netherlands: polders reclaimed from the Wadden Sea and the former estuaries of Oer-IJ and Old Rhine. The shells from four of these locations also date before 1492 AD

Keynote Address: Broadband Deployment in a Multi-Media World: Moving beyond the Myths to Seize the Opportunities

Keynote Address as prepared for delivery before the Content Abundance in a Multimedia World: Challenges and Opportunities for Multi-Platform Content Delivery and Regulation Symposium held on March 15, 2007 at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Robert M. McDowell is Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission

His Ship Has Sailed—Expelling Columbus from Cultural Heritage Law

Latin America is a region rich with cultural heritage that existed for centuries before its antiquities were looted, trafficked, and sold on the international market. The language used to classify these objects of cultural heritage has been a tool of oppression and erasure. In reference to those objects of historical importance, auction houses, dealers, museums, and even looters themselves consistently use the term “Pre-Columbian.” “Pre-Columbian,” which means “before Columbus,” defines the historical period prior to the establishment of the Spanish culture in the national territories of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean islands. In fact, this definition is the basis of the 1972 Pre-Columbian Act in the United States, which addresses trafficking of Latin American sculptures, murals, and architectural elements. This Article examines the use of “Pre-Columbian” in American cultural heritage law in the context of linguistic settler colonialism, which results in the oppression and continued trauma of cultures through the use of harmful language. This Article argues that any reference to Columbus in the laws impacting Latin American cultural heritage contributes to the erasure of Indigenous peoples. Its use advances the fallacy that these peoples were “primitive,” “tribal,” or even “uncivilized.” It also perpetuates the belief that these groups only exist through their connection to Europe. Through a comprehensive examination of the term “Pre-Columbian” and its detrimental impacts on Indigenous cultures, this Article begins the process of removing problematic language from cultural heritage law

His Ship Has Sailed--Expelling Columbus from Cultural Heritage Law

Latin America is a region rich with cultural heritage that existed for centuries before its antiquities were looted, trafficked, and sold on the international market. The language used to classify these objects of cultural heritage has been a tool of oppression and erasure. In reference to those objects of historical importance, auction houses, dealers, museums, and even looters themselves consistently use the term “Pre- Columbian.” “Pre-Columbian,” which means “before Columbus,” defines the historical period prior to the establishment of the Spanish culture in the national territories of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean islands. In fact, this definition is the basis of the 1972 Pre-Columbian Act in the United States, which addresses trafficking of Latin American sculptures, murals, and architectural elements. This Article examines the use of “Pre-Columbian” in American cultural heritage law in the conext of linguistic settler colonialism, which results in the oppression and continued trauma of cultures through the use of harmful language. This Article argues that any eference to Columbus in the laws impacting Latin American cultural heritage contributes to the erasure of Indigenous peoples. Its use advances the fallacy that these peoples were “primitive,” “tribal,” or even “uncivilized.” It also perpetuates the belief that these groups only exist through their connection to Europe. Through a comprehensive examination of the term “Pre-Columbian” and its detrimental impacts on Indigenous cultures, this Article begins the process of removing problematic language from cultural heritage law

Bermuda's Legacy

The Sargasso Sea is one of the great ecological wonders of the world; on its surface floats a "golden rainforest" as teeming with colorful life as a coral reef. It remains much as it was when first described by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Plants, fish, turtles, and crabs thrive in this exceptionally clear, warm body of water, miles above the ocean floor. Among its wonders are birds that roost on the mats of golden Sargassum seaweed; a fish that has evolved pectoral fins, like five-fingered hands, that enable it to grasp and climb the seaweed; and eels that travel vast distances from the rivers of Europe and North America to reproduce somewhere in its depths before they die. This is the only sea in the world surrounded by currents, rather than land, and Bermuda is the only island within it. In addition to providing a nursery for fish and other sea life, the seaweed benefits Bermuda directly when it washes ashore and sinks into the sand, fertilizing the soil and strengthening the island against storms and erosion

Case Studies in Indentured Servitude in Colonial America

The image of America as a land of freedom and opportunity emerged long before its establishment as an independent nation. After Columbus and other early explorers discovered the rich and vast territories of North America, it was only a matter of time before a frenzied and hopeful mass of European peoples would follow them across the Atlantic. In the early stages of development, the institution of indentured servitude provided substantial numbers of Europeans with both a means of living as well as the possibility of future prosperity. Emigrants would enter contracts of servitude that required labor for a designated period of time, after which the individual received freedom and usually a small tract of land. The nature of indentured servitude as well as the experiences of several individual emigrants encourage a re-examination of the “land-of-opportunity” paradigm. In particular, the auto-biographical accounts of John Harrower and William Moraley provide great insight into early American life, a rollercoaster of devastating hardships made tolerable by periods of prosperity and improvement. Harrower and Moraley’s accounts indicate that indentured servitude did offer an instrument for self betterment but also reveal that the idealistic view of America fell far short of reality

Smoking and Disease

It all started in America, and long before the arrival of Columbus ­ but then the Red Indians smoked a pipe. The European villain of the piece is said to have been Sir Walter Raleigh, though some say that tobacco-smoking was introduced in Europe by Bristol seamen when Sir Walter was still in his boyhood. However, smoking was not unknown in Europe before the th 16 century; Roman remains in Great Britain and Ireland suggest that hemp and aromatic herbs had already been smoked in pipes. During the last War, at least in Malta, the wheel had turned full-circle; because of the shortage of tobacco due to the siege enterprising "addicts" started smoking dried fig, vine and lemon leaves as well. After the second World War, a worldwide rise in the consumption of tobacco occurred, largely due to an increase in smoking by women.peer-reviewe