About the Hurst Summer Institute
The J. Willard Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History is a biennial event sponsored by the American Society for Legal History (ASLH). It is traditionally held in June in Madison, Wisconsin, with support from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Institute for Legal Studies where the late Professor James Willard Hurst was a founding member of the modern field of legal history.
Each Hurst Institute is organized and chaired by a well-known legal historian or historians and includes visiting senior scholars who lead specialized sessions. An ASLH committee reviews applications and selects 12 early career scholars from around the world as Institute Fellows. The Fellows participate in seminars, meet other legal historians and present their own work. The program is structured but informal, and features discussions of core readings in legal history and analysis of the work of the participants in the Institute. Fellowships are supported by dedicated funds donated in honor of leading mentors in the field, by the alumni of past Hurst fellows to support early career scholars.
Please visit the Hurst Institute Archives (UW Law School Repository) for more information about J. Willard Hurst, the legal history tradition at UW Law School and previous Hurst sessions.
2023 Hurst Summer Institute
The 12th Hurst Summer Institute took place June 18-30, 2023 (see ASLH announcement).
It was chaired by Sarah Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams professor of constitutional law and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, and Michelle McKinley, the Bernard B. Kliks professor of law at the University of Oregon School of Law.
Previous Sessions
Previous Hurst Institute sessions have been led by distinguished legal history scholars, including Mitra Sharafi (University of Wisconsin), Lawrence Friedman (Stanford University), Robert W. Gordon (Yale and Stanford universities), Barbara Young Welke (University of Minnesota), Hendrik Hartog (Princeton University), and Lauren Benton (Yale University).
2021 Hurst Summer Institute
The 2021 Hurst Institute took place June 13-26, 2021 and was chaired by Sarah Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams professor of constitutional law and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, and Lauren Benton, Barton M. Biggs professor of history and professor of law at Yale University.
Visit the Hurst Institute Archives (UW Law School Repository) for information about previous Hurst sessions.
Contact Information
Email hurst@law.wisc.edu with questions or concerns.
