Joshua Barkan The opportunity to participate in
the Hurst Summer Institute was a great experience for me both
intellectually and personally. These institutes are important for
establishing the types of intellectual conversations that will take
place within a discipline and for encouraging younger scholars to
participate in those exchanges. The mix of scholars invited to the
Hurst Institute – from very senior scholars to the Hurst Fellows
and other participants at early stages in their careers – created
a sense of a conversation that was centered, emerging out of a
specific set of questions, but open-ended enough to engage new
issues and ways of thinking. Barbara Welke was tremendous in
fostering a constructive atmosphere. As someone trained in an
interdisciplinary American Studies department, this framework
allowed me to make connections between my work and the broader
discipline of legal history. For instance, the discussions on
research and using the national archives were very interesting for
me, not only for explaining technical issues about these archives,
but for providing a larger forum to think about the relationship
between evidence and argument. Since my work uses archives in very
different ways than most historical scholarship, it allowed me to
consider the specificity of my current project while also prodded
me to think about what new questions I could ask and answer through
archival research. I have no doubt that I will come back to these
issues as my work develops in the future.
Nandini Chatterjee The Hurst Institute was a gem
of an experience for the following reasons: It was brilliantly
organized with everything taken care of, so that we as fellows
literally enjoyed the status of full-time intellectuals for two
weeks. Every fellow's participation was of a very high intellectual
standard, and this did not flag even on the last day. It was a rare
privilege to have so many brilliant minds engaging with one's work,
and in turn, to engage with that of others. Barbara Welke's
direction was unfalteringly positive, encouraging and generous,
making even every difference of opinion an enjoyable learning
experience.
Anne Kornhauser I would highly recommend the
summer institute to any young scholar engaged in the field of legal
history. It is a unique opportunity to connect to and learn from
leaders in the field, on the one hand, and from a group of emerging
scholars, on the other. This year’s fellows, I would venture,
provided a sampling of some of the most interesting work around the
country and even the world among the emerging generation of legal
historians. In every paper I found something to learn from and to
think about anew. To be able to understand what others in one’s
own scholarly generation are thinking and doing, reading and
talking about, is tremendously exciting and a rare opportunity.
Sophia Z. Lee The Hurst Institute was one of the
most productive and energizing intellectual experiences I've had
and I am fairly certain I will continue to look back on it in those
terms for years to come. For two weeks, the Institute reproduced
the kind of dynamic discussion and critical thinking that Dirk
Hartog described finding during his years at Madison, nurtured
along by Willard Hurst. To sit in a room for six hours a day with
people who took the work before us and the comments of their peers
seriously-who read, listened, thought, and responded with intensity
and focus-was an intellectual treat. . . . a few days into the
Institute, I began referring to it as legal history boot camp, I
meant it in the most affectionate of ways. In the way some people
cherish physically demanding vacations, the Institute was its own
sort of luxury retreat. . . .I also found the conversations we had
when discussing a work in progress-our own or those of the visiting
scholars-particularly dynamic and rich. The opportunity to have
such an engaged and thoughtful group dig into my own work was
invaluable. . . .I look forward to pondering the methodological and
substantive questions posed and to revisiting Barbara and the other
fellows' insightful comments for years to come.
Masako Nakamura The Hurst Summer Institute was one
of the best workshops I have ever participated. I’ve learned the
depth and breath of legal history through diverse formal and
informal conversations and discussions with other engaging scholars
in different stages and backgrounds throughout the workshop. I
really enjoyed meeting every one of them. The experience surely
helps me produce a better dissertation.
Stephen R. Porter My fellowship at the Hurst
Institute constituted quite simply two of the most intellectually
rewarding weeks of my life. . . . It was a whirlwind tutorial in
how studying “law in action” can provide powerful insights into
myriad aspects of social organization. This is not only a tribute
to those involved with the Institute today, but to Willard Hurst
and the larger intellectual family tree that he produced. . .
.[W]hile I was so impressed with the expert dedication of various
people affiliated with the fellowship program (e.g., Pam
Hollenhorst, Lawrence Friedman, Bob Gordon), I feel particularly
fortunate to have participated in a program headed by Barbara
Welke. She is not only a stellar scholar, but an absolutely
wonderful discussion leader. Her keen perception, erudition, and
intellectual generosity made for one exhilarating day after
another.
Stelios Tofaris The Hurst Summer Institute was an
excellent experience in more than one way. To begin with, it was
academically enriching. Most of the Hurst fellows approached legal
history from multifarious angles and used “law” in diverse ways
in their own projects, largely the result of their different
academic training. This made for a most exciting analysis of the
assigned papers, but also for a refreshing and very helpful
discussion of each participant’s work, which frequently started
formally in the seminar room and continued informally in the nearby
cafés. Overall, I found the exposure to various exegetical
perspectives and ways of thinking about law intellectually
stimulating and very instructive. Furthermore, it was a joy to
listen to the institute leader, Professor Barbara Welke, and the
invited scholars either analysing Hurst’s work, or, their own
projects. Their academic quality was well known; what was less
known, but equally important, was their ability to stimulate and
lead thought-provoking discussions. In particular, it was a
privilege to be given the opportunity to learn more about Hurst as
a person and scholar from people that had known him for years,
notably Professors Friedman, Gordon and Hartog. This makes one
appreciate even more the way in which Hurst broke with the earlier
tradition of legal history, the paths which he opened with his own
research, and, significantly, how he managed to do that in
practice. In addition, the Institute was a great opportunity to
meet young scholars working in the same field and at the same stage
of their career. This meant that we could benefit from each
other’s experiences, as well as share opinions on future career
choices. Importantly, the group was as dynamic in the seminar room
as outside it. To say that the whole event was well organised would
be an understatement. Every little detail, either administrative or
academic-related, was taken care of perfectly and unnoticeably.
This contributed greatly to the success of the whole event.
Laura Weinrib The Institute was a phenomenally
rewarding experience in every respect. To begin with, Barbara Welke
was a model facilitator (indeed, one of the many things I learned
from my experience is how to run a seminar effectively). She guided
our discussions smoothly and patiently, and she set a tone that was
both comfortable and intellectually intense. Equally valuable was
the diversity of interests among the fellows. The presentations
spanned centuries, continents, and disciplines, and thinking
through them made me question assumptions that had come out of my
own narrower focus. Administratively, the program ran seamlessly.
Finally, I want to emphasize that the Institute was extremely
important in helping me frame my dissertation even though--or
especially since--I'm still in the early stages of research and
writing. Several fellows who had already submitted their
dissertations commented that they would really have benefitted from
a workshop like this earlier in the writing process. While
attending the Institute would have been valuable at any point, I
really appreciated the opportunity to attend while new ideas and
approaches are most productive.
Diana Williams I attended the Hurst Institute
immediately after completing graduate school and found it immensely
gratifying to spend time in a seminar setting with this new group
of intellectual peers. As a junior scholar, I especially
appreciated the unique emphasis on developing a cohort of
colleagues at similar stages in their careers. Most fellows were
also in the process of completing and/or revising dissertations.
Reading and responding to each other's work-in-progress offered
much-needed perspective and the opportunity to learn more about new
fields. This social-cultural historian of the family was forced to
grapple with work on personal injury, corporations, the state,
immigration, administrative law, etc., to say nothing of the work
of the non-US specialists. The experience offered a much-needed
antidote to the specialization that comes with graduate work. It
also gave me food for thought about how to define law and its
history as I began developing syllabi of my own. . . .In addition
to enjoying the gorgeous UW-Madison campus at a perfect time of
year, a highlight of the Hurst experience included interacting with
a number of influential legal historians at various stages in their
careers. I especially appreciated the opportunity to get to know
Barbara Welke, an inspired and ideal choice to lead the workshop
over the course of the two weeks. Her energy, generosity, and
fluency across various subfields of legal history really set the
tone for a truly rewarding experience.