Early-Career Scholars
Supporting early-career scholars is among the American Society for Legal History’s top priorities. Well aware that today’s newcomers will be tomorrow’s leaders within the profession, the ASLH works hard to attract, retain, mentor, and otherwise serve graduate students, law students, and early-career professionals. We also recognize that junior scholars often have limited resources, and thus have added generous financial subsidies to many of our initiatives. We hope that these offerings will be attractive to a wide range of newcomers, including those who do not think of themselves primarily as legal historians.
Resources for Graduate Students and Early-Career Scholars
Graduate students, law students, and other early-career scholars are always welcome at the American Society for Legal History. We’re happy to have you join us! The ASLH offers many opportunities to students and junior scholars:
Annual Meeting: The ASLH encourages graduate students and early-career scholars to attend its annual meetings. ASLH conferences are friendly and social. Those who attend get to know the field and can easily meet both senior scholars and peers who share their interests. Registration fees for graduate students are heavily subsidized. In addition, the ASLH strives to provide subventions for graduate students who are on the program.
Membership: The ASLH encourages graduate students to join the organization. The Society heavily subsidizes students’ membership fees. Members receive the Law and History Review, among other benefits.
Committee membership: Valuing student input, the ASLH encourages graduate students to volunteer for committee service. Committee membership is a great way to get to know other members, to learn about the organization, and to contribute to the Society’s operations. If you are interested in serving on an ASLH committee, please contact Graduate Student Outreach Committee chair John Wertheimer.
Student Research Colloquium: The ASLH brings a total of eight graduate and law students to the site of its annual meeting each year for a pre-conference workshop, during which participants discuss in-progress dissertations and law review articles with distinguished members of the Society. Following the colloquium, participants attend the annual meeting. The ASLH covers participants’ conference registration fees, society membership dues, hotel costs, and part or all of their travel costs.
Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars: The ASLH selects two junior legal historians each year to present papers at its annual meeting. Preyer Scholars receive cash awards, support for attending the conference, and Society membership.
Cromwell Fellowships: The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation makes available a number of $5,000 fellowships to support research and writing in American legal history by early-career scholars. Early-career generally includes those researching or writing a PhD dissertation (or equivalent project) and recent recipients of a graduate degree working on their first major monograph or research project.
ASLH Early Career Global Legal History Research Fellowships: This initiative is intended to provide funding for early career scholars, publishing in English, who are working on projects in legal history relating to non-U. S. history topics. Non-U. S. history topics refers to research that does not qualify for the fellowships awarded by the Cromwell Foundation in coordination with the ASLH. Early career scholars includes those researching or writing a PhD dissertation (or equivalent project) and recent recipients of a graduate degree working on their first major monograph or research project. The Committee will make up to five awards.
Cromwell Dissertation Prize: The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation Dissertation Prize is awarded annually to the best dissertation in any area of American legal history, including constitutional and comparative studies, although topics dealing with the colonial and early national periods will receive some preference. The author of the winning dissertation receives $5,000. Anyone who received a Ph.D. or S.J.D. in the previous calendar year will be eligible for this year’s prize, which is awarded by the Foundation after a review of the recommendation of the Cromwell Prize Advisory Committee of the American Society for Legal History.
Max Planck/ASLH Dissertation Prize for European Legal History in a Global Perspective: This fellowship will honor exceptional dissertations on topics in European legal history in global perspective and presented for PhD or JSD degrees awarded in the previous calendar year. Topics may include European legal interactions with people or places outside Europe, legal processes spanning Europe and other world regions, and developments in legal theory closely related to imperial, transnational, or trans-regional trends.
Global Dissertation Prize: The Global Dissertation Prize recognizes the best dissertation from the previous calendar year on topics centered outside the United States. Eligible dissertations must be written in English and submitted for a PhD, JSD, or equivalent doctoral degree, excluding the JD, awarded in the previous calendar year (for example, a dissertation for a PhD awarded in 2025 would be eligible in 2026). Dissertations should not be predominantly focused on the US and may examine contexts, processes, or institutions that are local, regional, imperial, comparative, global, or otherwise.
Hurst Summer Institute: The ASLH partners with the Institute for Legal Studies to bring twelve early-career scholars to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two weeks every other summer to discuss their own research and participate in faculty-led legal history seminars.
Wallace Johnson First Book Program: The Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors provides advice and support to scholars working toward the publication of first books in legal history, broadly defined. In conversation with peers and with the advice of senior scholars, participants develop and revise book proposals and sample chapters, as well as meeting with guest editors to learn about approaching and working with publishers. Scholars with expertise in all chronological periods and geographical fields are encouraged to apply, as are applicants who may not (yet) identify as legal historians.
Virtual Early Career Workshop: A new initiative designed to provide support and intellectual community to early career scholars working in legal history, broadly defined. The committee (the ASLH Working Group for Virtual Initiatives) will select seven (7) Fellows for the 2024-25 workshop. The workshop will be limited to the Fellows and Faculty Chairs and will meet once monthly via Zoom from September through April (no meeting in October because of the Annual Meeting) giving each fellow an opportunity to share work-in-progress with the group for discussion and feedback.
Questions: If you have questions about any of the opportunities listed above, or if you can suggest any additional ways in which the Society could help graduate students, please contact Graduate Student Outreach Committee chair John Wertheimer.