About
the Law & Society Research Cluster
Law
is a multifaceted, pervasive and fundamental element of any society. Its
reach is deep and wide, and its use or abuse can affect one person or
many. Law is both a product of society and productive of social relationships.
It can be oppressive or liberating; just or unjust; it can compel or constrain.
As such, the law and its role in society is a quintessentially interdisciplinary
subject and one which constantly generates dialogue in and across disciplinary
boundaries.
The research
cluster Law and Society will bring together faculty and
students from across the humanities and social science disciplines at
both the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg communities
interested in the social, cultural, and political dimensions of the law
and its role in society with the goal of creating a community of mutually
supportive scholars and fostering interdisciplinary collaborative research.
The cluster
will organize a range of scholarly activities, including keynote lectures,
reserach talks, focused reading sessions, and research workshops.
The contact person for Law and Society is
Professor Greg Smith of the Department of History.
The Law & Society Reserach Cluster is co-organized
by:
Prof. Chris Frank (History)
Prof. Debra Parkes (Law)
Prof. Russell Smandych (Sociology)
Prof. Greg
Smith (History)
Not
on our e-mail list? Would you like to receive e-mail reminders about
upcoming LSRC events? Send a brief request to be added to:
Greg Smith
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NOTICE
Canadian Law & Society Association Annual Meetings 2010
The CLSA will hold its
Mid-Winter Meeting at York University, Toronto in early 2010. The
annual meeting will take place at the Congress of the Humanities
& Social Sciences meeting in Montreal, at Concordia University.
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Are you doing reserach
that involves the law or legal sources?
Legal
Research Assitance at the E.K. Williams Law Library:
Click here for further details
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Theme for 2009-2010: Law and
Human Rights
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Two
recent developments remind us that the concept of "human rights"
has --at this very moment--both a global and local reach. 2008 marked
the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR).
The
anniversary sparked a number of celebratory but also critical reflections
one Declaration and its postWorld War II history. The document itself
has contributed to international law and foreign policy, making
it one of the seminal works of legal and political theory of the
modern era.
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Cyrus
Cylinder
Babylonian, about 539-530 BC
From Babylon, southern Iraq |
At
the same time, proposals for a new Canadian Museum for Human Rights
have been underway in Winnipeg for a number of years. It is very
likely that the academic community in Manitoba will be involved
with this museum
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| as its
aims and direction become clear, and especially once the first exhibits
are installed. We expect the museum to form a perpetually contested
space, where the social, cultural, historical, legal, emotional, economic,
and physical dimensions of human rights will be subjeted to constant
debate, discussion, realization and reinterpretation. |
In the 2009-10
academic year, the Law & Society Research Cluster will explore a number
of questions regarding the law and human rights from a wide range of perspectives.
We invite scholars, community members, students and guests to participate
in our series of public talks, presentations, lectures and roundtables.
Potential
topics we hope to explore include:
The History of Human
Rights
Feminism and Human
Rights
Sexuality and Human
Rights
Museums, Memory and
Human Rights
Human Rights and
Aboriginal Peoples
Environment, Law
and Human Rights
Relevant Links
Canadian Human Rights Act
United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR)
Human Rights Watch
Video Links
Why We Back Human Rights (at Guardian.co.uk)
Upcoming Events: Winter 2010
Rescheduled from the fall term...
Upcoming Talk: Mus
eums, Memory and Human Rights Theme
"Remembering
Complexity? Memorials for Nazi Victims in Berlin"
Christiane
Wilke
Department of Law, Carleton University
Dr
Wilke's talk deals with identity and intersectionality theory in
the context of memorializing victims of the Nazi regime.
All
are welcome to attend.
Date:
Thurs. 11 March
Time:
12-2 pm
Room: 409 Tier
Co-sponsored by the Faculty of Law Distinguished Speaker Series, and the Department of History |
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Past Events: Fall/Winter 2009-10
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Upcoming Panel: Sexuality and Human
Rights Theme
"Sexuality
and Human Rights"
A
Panel Discussion featuring:
Karen
Busby, Law
David
Churchill, History
Donn Short, Law
Further
information T.B.A.
All
are welcome to attend.
Thursday,
January 21
12:00-2:00
409 Tier
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Public Lecture: Human Rights and Aboriginal
Peoples Theme
Distinguished
Visitor Lecture, Robson Hall, Faculty of Law
Justice
Murray Sinclair
Chairperson, Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC)
Justice
Murray was appointed the new Chairperson of the TRC
effective July 1, 2009.
The
title of his talk is "They Came For the Children."
All
are welcome to attend.
Monday,
September 21
Time: 12 noon
Moot Court, Robson Hall |
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Public Lecture: Law, History and Human
Rights Theme
"International
human rights and legal pluralism: a research agenda"
Frédéric
Mégret
Canada Research Chair on the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism
Faculty of Law, McGill
Professor
Mégret is the Director of the McGill Legal Clinic for the
Special Court for Sierra Leone.
All
are welcome to attend.
Friday,
October 2
Time: 12:00-1:00
Moot Court Room, Robson Hall
Faculty of Law
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Past Events: Spring 2009
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Upcoming Talks
"Defending
the Self: Rape, Resistance and Survival"
Dr.
Jan Jordan
Associate Professor, Institute of Criminology
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Dr.
Jordan will present material from her recent book Serial Survivors
based on 15 women's epxeriences of all being attacked by the
same serial rapist. How the women survived the attacks and their
subsequent dealings with the criminal justice system will be the
main focus of the talk.
All
are welcome to attend.
Thursday,
May 7
1:00 PM
Room 335 Isbister Bldg. |
Members of Sonny Clay’s Coloured Idea (including the singer
Ivie Anderson) on deck as they pull into Sydney, 1928
Monday,
May 11
2:30-4:00 PM
409 Tier Bldg. |
The Law of
the Extempore: Improvisation and Social Change
Dr. Sara Ramshaw
School of Law, Queen's University Belfast
Dr.
Sara Ramshaw is interested in workshopping a chapter of her current
book project which unpacks the relationship between law, improvisation
and social change through the concept of the "extempore".
The
aim is to challenge the extent to which the extempore can be completely
absent from the Western common law tradition while being totally
present in improvisation. Relying on the theoretical and literary
writings of Jacques Derrida and Hélène Cixous, and focusing on a
case study of the NYC cabaret laws, which regulated the employment
of jazz musicians in the mid-1900s, the extempore is unveiled here
as paradox or aporia, as that which unites the general (law) and
the singular (improvisation) through musical and legal time. Beyond
this, however, the singular and responsive dimension of the extempore
opens toward otherness and alterity and ensures that change and
transformation remain possible in Western law and society.
Sara
will provide a draft chapter for pre-circulation around May 2, and
we will meet on on May 11 to discuss it and offer her some friendly,
critical feedback. If you would like to receive a copy of the chapter,
please send an email to Tina Chen chentm@cc.umanitoba.ca or to Greg
Smith and we will see that the paper is sent to you.
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Past L&SRC Events, 2007-2008
Past L&SRC Events, 2006-2007
Site
last updated 13 October 2009 |
