The first biennial J. Willard Hurst Summer Institute in Legal History convened in Madison from June 11-22, 2001. Co-sponsored by the Institute for Legal Studies at the UW Law School and the American Society of Legal History, the Hurst Institute brought together twelve early-career legal history scholars selected as Hurst Fellows to work intensively with senior scholars for a two-week period. Lawrence Friedman, the Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, chaired the Institute. He is pictured here with Willard Hurst's wife Frances, this year's Fellows, and other Hurst Institute participants.

The success of the Hurst Institute is reflected in the comments of the Fellows. One described the presentation and discussion sessions as "an extraordinarily valuable and intellectually rich experience.... It was a unique opportunity to think critically about a variety of theories and methodologies of legal history, and learn about a number of new subjects within the field." Another Hurst Fellow stressed the importance of building a community of scholars: "The discussions we had were some of the best I've had since beginning my graduate education. Our common passion for legal history -- and especially legal history in the Hurstian tradition -- brought me new-found energy and enthusiasm for my current work and my future career. To practice legal history is a more interesting prospect now that I know that I undertake the journey with these people as my colleagues."

The next Hurst Summer Institute is scheduled for June 2003. For information about the 2003 Institute, consult the H-Law website at http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~law/

Submitted by on June 28, 2001

This article appears in the categories: Articles