Law and Humanities Workshop

Law and humanities is one of the most exciting domains of scholarship today, generating a vibrant interdisciplinary conversation among scholars of law, humanities, and the humanistic social sciences, drawing on fields as diverse as anthropology, art and architecture, film and media, history, human rights, literature, music, performance, philosophy, political theory, religion, sociology (etc). In this class, we will explore the work of scholars at the cutting edge of the field: work that reaches across the field and represents its diversity and richness. The class will also serve as a workshop for developing student projects and professional skills, with an eye to conference participation, thesis development, and possible publication.

We will devote the first two sessions to discussing the field, looking at its history and at current developments, exploring the tools of our different disciplines, and pondering the promises and pitfalls of interdisciplinary research. A series of distinguished guest scholars (a few of whom were once students in this class!) will attend subsequent sessions, circulating published and in-progress work to the class and describing their current projects. Several students will serve as respondents each week, and the class as a whole will have an opportunity to engage with our guests’ work and perhaps change its course. The last sessions will be dedicated to a mini-conference in which students will circulate and present their projects and we will celebrate our achievements. Graduate students in any field and at any stage of study welcome, along with any other members of the scholarly community interested in attending.