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On Natural Law & Modern Legal Practice (Fall 2022 Legal Humanities Fellowship)


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

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

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Winged Ox Forum (Fall 2022)

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