This course provides students with a foundation in common-law traditions and legal reasoning. The course is not designed as a language class; rather, it assumes a working knowledge of English and uses legal study as a way of sharpening students’ command of legal discourse, or “legalese.” After an overview of the historical and institutional foundations of the Anglo-American legal family, we will turn to core features of common-law methodology, including the role of precedent, statutory interpretation, and judicial decision-making. The course will draw on illustrative cases and materials from both the United States and England and Wales, allowing for comparison across two related but distinct systems. Alongside doctrinal study, we will pay close attention to legal language: its terminology, rhetorical styles, and interpretive practices. Current legal developments and debates will be incorporated throughout, giving students a chance to see how common-law reasoning operates in practice and in public life.

”Law and Literature” offers an introduction to one of the most influential interdisciplinary approaches in legal studies. We begin by surveying the emergence of law and literature as a field, considering its main questions and methods: How do legal texts function as forms of literature? How do literary works represent law, justice, and authority? What can narrative, rhetoric, and interpretation contribute to legal analysis? Building on this foundation, we will engage with a range of case studies that pair literary works with legal sources, reading them through the lens of law and literature scholarship. Through these examples, students will examine how literary imagination and legal reasoning intersect, conflict, and co-construct our understanding of law in culture.

NB: This course starts in the second week of term (23 October 2025)

“Legal Histories” examines how law has been shaped, studied, and narrated over time. The course will give an introduction into the dogmatic history of European legal systems with a focus on German legal history. This will take place within a broader critical framework and we will turn to questions about the relationship between law and historiography: how does the writing of history influence our understanding of law, and how does law itself structure historical narratives? We will also engage with critical perspectives that challenge traditional accounts of legal history, emphasizing the plurality of legal experiences and the political stakes of historical writing. Students will gain both substantive knowledge of European legal traditions and methodological tools for approaching legal history as a field.

  “The Law and Legal System of Germany: Public Law” familiarizes students with the foundations of Germany’s legal order and its role within the broader European context. The course begins with an overview of the German legal system—its sources, institutions, and methodological traditions—before examining the key branches of public law. Particular emphasis will be placed on constitutional law, including the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), fundamental rights, and the role of the Federal Constitutional Court. In addition, we will consider the principles of administrative law and the structures of German criminal law. By combining doctrinal analysis with contextual discussion, students will gain a working understanding of how public law operates in Germany, as well as its significance for comparative legal studies.

<p>”World Laws” is a one-week block course that introduces students to the plurality of legal systems that structure human (and sometimes fictional) societies. Moving beyond a purely comparative approach, we will ask: How do laws come into being? What social, political, and cultural forces shape their form? The course begins with major global traditions, including the common-law and civil-law systems, before turning to canon law—discussed in light of both historical developments and contemporary events such as the recent papal inauguration and cultural representations like the film <em data-start="1294" data-end="1304">Conclave</em>. We will also consider examples of customary law from Namibia and Australia, focusing on their distinct ways of organizing authority and community. Finally, the course ventures into the realm of the imaginary, analyzing the fabricated legal systems of science fiction and fantasy as tools for reflecting on the possibilities and limits of law. By the end of the week, students will have encountered a wide spectrum of legal thought and practice, while critically reflecting on what it means to speak of ”law” in different contexts.</p>

This course provides students with a foundation in common-law traditions and legal reasoning. The course is not designed as a language class; rather, it assumes a working knowledge of English and uses legal study as a way of sharpening students’ command of legal discourse, or “legalese.” After an overview of the historical and institutional foundations of the Anglo-American legal family, we will turn to core features of common-law methodology, including the role of precedent, statutory interpretation, and judicial decision-making. The course will draw on illustrative cases and materials from both the United States and England and Wales, allowing for comparison across two related but distinct systems. Alongside doctrinal study, we will pay close attention to legal language: its terminology, rhetorical styles, and interpretive practices. Current legal developments and debates will be incorporated throughout, giving students a chance to see how common-law reasoning operates in practice and in public life.

”Law and Literature” offers an introduction to one of the most influential interdisciplinary approaches in legal studies. We begin by surveying the emergence of law and literature as a field, considering its main questions and methods: How do legal texts function as forms of literature? How do literary works represent law, justice, and authority? What can narrative, rhetoric, and interpretation contribute to legal analysis? Building on this foundation, we will engage with a range of case studies that pair literary works with legal sources, reading them through the lens of law and literature scholarship. Through these examples, students will examine how literary imagination and legal reasoning intersect, conflict, and co-construct our understanding of law in culture.

NB: This course starts in the second week of term (23 October 2025)

“Legal Histories” examines how law has been shaped, studied, and narrated over time. The course will give an introduction into the dogmatic history of European legal systems with a focus on German legal history. This will take place within a broader critical framework and we will turn to questions about the relationship between law and historiography: how does the writing of history influence our understanding of law, and how does law itself structure historical narratives? We will also engage with critical perspectives that challenge traditional accounts of legal history, emphasizing the plurality of legal experiences and the political stakes of historical writing. Students will gain both substantive knowledge of European legal traditions and methodological tools for approaching legal history as a field.

  “The Law and Legal System of Germany: Public Law” familiarizes students with the foundations of Germany’s legal order and its role within the broader European context. The course begins with an overview of the German legal system—its sources, institutions, and methodological traditions—before examining the key branches of public law. Particular emphasis will be placed on constitutional law, including the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), fundamental rights, and the role of the Federal Constitutional Court. In addition, we will consider the principles of administrative law and the structures of German criminal law. By combining doctrinal analysis with contextual discussion, students will gain a working understanding of how public law operates in Germany, as well as its significance for comparative legal studies.

<p>”World Laws” is a one-week block course that introduces students to the plurality of legal systems that structure human (and sometimes fictional) societies. Moving beyond a purely comparative approach, we will ask: How do laws come into being? What social, political, and cultural forces shape their form? The course begins with major global traditions, including the common-law and civil-law systems, before turning to canon law—discussed in light of both historical developments and contemporary events such as the recent papal inauguration and cultural representations like the film <em data-start="1294" data-end="1304">Conclave</em>. We will also consider examples of customary law from Namibia and Australia, focusing on their distinct ways of organizing authority and community. Finally, the course ventures into the realm of the imaginary, analyzing the fabricated legal systems of science fiction and fantasy as tools for reflecting on the possibilities and limits of law. By the end of the week, students will have encountered a wide spectrum of legal thought and practice, while critically reflecting on what it means to speak of ”law” in different contexts.</p>