Virtual Early Career Legal History Workshop

Criteria

Ph.D./JSD/JD

Amount

Deadline

June 30, 2026

ASLH Early Career (Virtual) Legal History Workshop
Deadline for Applications:  June 30, 2026

The American Society for Legal History (ASLH) Early Career (Virtual) Legal History Workshop is designed to provide support and an intellectual community to early career scholars working in legal history, broadly defined. One goal of the ASLH’s virtual initiatives is to increase engagement between international and U.S.-based scholars, and we encourage international applicants despite the time-zone challenges this entails.

Fellows will workshop a portion of a major scholarly work, such as a dissertation or first book. Scholars with expertise in all chronological periods and geographical fields are encouraged to apply, as are scholars who may not (yet) identify as legal historians.

The 2026-27 Early Career (Virtual) Legal History Workshop Faculty Chair will be Barbara Welke, the Distinguished McKnight University Professor of History and Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, and Past-President of the ASLH.

The ASLH Committee on Digital Initiatives will select six fellows for the 2026-27 workshop. Workshop meetings will be limited to the fellows and the Faculty Chair and will convene via Zoom once a month from September through April (no meetings in November and December). Each fellow will share their work-in-progress with the group for discussion and feedback.

Eligibility: Eligible applicants range from PhD candidates and recent PhD/JD recipients to pre-tenure scholars publishing in English.

Schedule: The date and time of the monthly workshops will be established by the Faculty Chair. Fellows must commit to participating in all workshop meetings.

Elements of Application:

(1) Cover Letter (1 page): the cover letter should address the following points:

  • Briefly describe your research and path to the project, intended result (dissertation/book/article) and the project stage including a timeline for completion.
  • Address the significance or role of law, legal institutions, or legal practices in your research, and how you think a workshop with legal historians of other periods and areas will benefit your project.
  • Note your time zone (UTC) and range of flexibility for meeting.

(2) Curriculum Vitae (1 page): your CV should include education and degree dates, current position, publications and conference papers, and professional society affiliations.
(3) Title and Abstract for the draft article, dissertation chapter or book chapter that you plan to share (up to 100 words);
(4) 1 Letter of Recommendation: the letter should be from someone who knows you and your work well and who can comment on how you would benefit from and contribute to the workshop community.

Applicants should submit items 1-3 in a single PDF document and arrange to have the letter of recommendation submitted directly. Only complete applications will be considered.

Please direct questions & submissions to: Jonathan Connolly, jsc1@uic.edu

Application Deadline: June 30, 2026

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