What is Natural Law? What were (and were not) the assumptions about human nature and the nature of law that made it such an important principle in legal history? To what extent does it remain relevant to democratic politics and jurisprudence? To what extent can contemporary legal practice remain committed to justice without it?
The Collegium Institute invites you to apply for the Fall 2022 Fellowship program in the Legal Humanities. The program welcomes a small group of student fellows to participate in six seminar-style discussion sessions. The discussions will be facilitated by academics and professionals in law, history, and philosophy. The seminars seek to cultivate reflection on the relationship between law and the good life, exploring questions like: How can law — its substance and practice — help us to become more fully human?
In this series, we will consider natural law as a philosophical approach to law. We will examine this in the context of classical thought and legal history. We will then examine how this approach can shape legal practices in areas related to civil rights, human rights, and constitutional law. Throughout, we will consider how natural law can shape legal practice as a vocation.
Schedule
September 26: Introduction to Natural Law
October 3: History of Natural Law and Legal Practice
October 10: Natural Law and the Civil Rights Movement
October 17: Natural and Human Rights
October 24: Natural Law and the Constitution
October 31: Distinguished Panel
Time: Mondays, 12:00pm-1:15pm
Location: Benjamin Franklin Room 218 in Houston Hall
Application: This fellowship is open to students at the University of Pennsylvania and other Philadelphia colleges. Applications are due on September 16. Click the button below to apply.
Please direct any questions you may have to Dr. Terence Sweeney (tsweeney@collegiuminstitute.org).
Meet our Fall 2022 fellows:
Iulia-Elena Cazan is a senior Political Science major and Philosophy and French minor at Drexel University.
Iulia-Elena Cazan
Serena Camici is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying International Relations.
Serena Camici
Ted Holleran is a third-year at Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law. In 2019, he completed his undergraduate studies at Villanova University, where he studied under Prof. Andrew G. Scott in the Classical Studies Program within the Department of Humanities. His interests are anchored in the only two worldly certainties: death and taxes. Accordingly, he studies both the intersection of law and religion and the Internal Revenue Code.
Theodore Holleran
Jake Medvitz is a second year Juris Doctor candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
Jake Medvitz
Jasmine is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying philosophy, politics, and economics.
Jasmine Watson
Julia Fischer is a junior Political Science and Hispanic Studies double-major at the University of Pennsylvania.
Julia Fischer
Aisha Irshad is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a dual degree in Business Economics & Public Policy at the Wharton School and Political Science at the College of Arts and Sciences.
Aisha Irshad