Università Roma Tre

THE COURSE WILL FIRST PROVIDE AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LAW AND THE HUMANITIES MOVEMENT
IN GENERAL AND THEN FOCUS ON SIX DIFFERENT, EVEN IF STRICTLY CONNECTED, FIELDS OF
STUDY: LAW AND LITERATURE, LAW AND HISTORY, LAW AND ARCHITECTURE, LAW AND ICONOGRAPHY,
LAW AND CINEMA AND LAW AND MUSIC. THE COURSE WILL QUESTION THE TRADITIONAL
ISOLATION OF LEGAL STUDIES IN ANALYSING LAW WITH REFERENCE TO THE OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES
AND, MORE GENERALLY, TO A LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXT. TEXTS, SYMBOLS AND REPRESENTATIONS,
WHICH HAVE GREATLY INFLUENCED POPULAR UNDERSTANDING OF LAW, WILL BE DISCUSSED
BY PROFESSORS AND PHD STUDENTS COMING FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD,
EACH OF WHOM WILL BE TEACHING 1-3 LESSONS ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC.
LEARNING AND TEACHING
THE COURSE WILL BE DIVIDED INTO FIVE PARTS. THE ATTENTION WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE MOST
IMPORTANT AND DEVELOPED FIELDS OF THE LAW AND THE HUMANITIES STUDIES: LAW AND
LITERATURE AND LAW AND CINEMA. THE NINE SPEAKERS, WHICH HAVE BEEN SELECTED IN
ORDER TO REPRESENT AS MANY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AS POSSIBLE, ARE IN PART WELLKNOWN
PROFESSORS AND IN PART YOUNG RESEARCHERS AND PHD STUDENTS.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
• TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE LAW AND THE HUMANITIES MOVEMENT.
• TO INVESTIGATE THE BENEFITS OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES.
• TO DEVELOP A CRITICAL APPROACH TO LEGAL TEXTS.
• TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL
FRAMEWORK FOR THE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAW IN THE PAST AND
IN THE PRESENT.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF STUDIES WHICH INVESTIGATES THE CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN LAW AND THE HUMANITIES AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGAL SCHOLARS TO LOOK AT
LAW AS PART OF A BROADER CIVILIZATION.
ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL CONTENT AND CONTEXT OF NOVELS, PLAYS, PAINTINGS, MONUMENTS
AND FILM, PROVIDING THE BASIS TO ASK QUESTIONS SUCH AS: WHAT DO WE UNDERSTAND BY
THE EXPRESSION “NATURAL LAW”? WHAT IS THE AIM OF LAW? DOES A CERTAIN RULE FIT WITH
THE OTHER VALUES OF THAT PARTICULAR CULTURE?
ANALYSIS OF LEGAL TEXTS USING THE TOOLS OF LITERARY CRITICISM AND THEORY.

R.A POSNER, LAW AND LITERATURE. REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
PRESS, CAMBRIDGE: MASSACHUSETTS/LONDON, 1998 (1988).• I. WARD, LAW AND LITERATURE: POSSIBILITIES AND PERSPECTIVES, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, 1995.
• C.R.B. DUNLOP, LITERATURE STUDIES IN LAW SCHOOLS, IN CARDOZO STUDIES IN LAW
AND LITERATURE, 3 (1), 1991, PP. 63-110.
• O.M. FISS, THE CHALLENGE AHEAD, IN YALE JOURNAL OF LAW & THE HUMANITIES, 1,
1988, PP. VIII-XI.
• J.B. WHITE, THE LEGAL IMAGINATION, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO/LONDON,
1985 (1973).
• E.M ABRAMSON, LAW, HUMANITIES AND THE HINTERLANDS, IN JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION,
30, 1979-1980, PP. 27-42.
• H. SURETSKY, SEARCH FOR A THEORY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WRITINGS ON THE
RELATION OF LAW TO LITERATURE AND THE HUMANITIES, IN RUTGERS LAW REVIEW, 32 (4),
1979, PP. 727-739.
• FOR FURTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY SEE THE WEBSITE: HTTP://DOCS.LAW.GWU.EDU/FACWEB/DSOLOVE/
LHI.HTM
LIST OF SPEAKERS (PROVISIONAL):
LAW AND LITERATURE:
- PROF. DAVID A. SKEEL, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW SCHOOL (U.S.A.).
- DR. MAGNUS RYAN, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (U.K.).
- DR. MARC HARREMAN, UNIVERSITY ROMATRE (ITALY).
- DR. STEFANIA GIALDRONI, EHESS, PARIS (FRANCE).
LAW AND ARCHITECTURE:
- PROF. GARY WATT, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK SCHOOL OF LAW (U.K.).
LAW AND HISTORY:
- PROF. EMANUELE CONTE, UNIVERSITY ROMATRE.
LAW AND CINEMA:
- CHARLES DE FROMENT, SUM, FLORENCE (ITALY) AND EHESS.
- PROF. ESTEBAN CONDE, UNIVERSITY OF HUELVA (SPAIN).
- PROF. VINCENZO ZENO-ZENCOVICH, UNIVERSITY ROMATRE.
LAW AND MUSIC:
- PROF. GIORGIO RESTA, UNIVERSITY OF BARI (ITALY) AND M° ENRICO MARIA POLIMANTI.