VUB Contextual Research in Law

(Source: CONFORM )   Louis Debersaques will present on the international workshop titled “Intertwining Architectural History with Legal History”. His presentation on legal consciousness of Belgian builders will take place on Friday September 27th in the archive (Sala D. João III) of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. The content of the presentation mainly revolves around the use and analysis of witness interrogations (correctional tribunal) concerning construction site accidents; conducted by both the local police and the investigating judge.    Original call for papers :  “Intertwining Architectural History with Legal History. This workshop aims to encourage interdisciplinary discussions and international collaborations that explore the intersection of Architectural History and Legal History. As Architectural History expands towards the cultural history of the built environment, surpassing traditional focus on design and artistic aspects, Legal History encompasses a broader scope t

(image source: BRILL ) dr. dr. Gijs Dreijer ( Joint PhD with Exeter, 2021 ) has been awarded the Frank Broeze Prize for his outstanding doctoral thesis on the subject of  The Power and Pains of Polysemy: General Average, Maritime Trade and Normative Practice in the Southern Low Countries (Fifteenth-Sixteenth Centuries)   More information: see announcement by BRILL

As member of the 2023 PhD cohort of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, drs.  Louis Debersaques will present his paper “Construction History meets Legal History: normative practice in the Belgian construction sector through criminal litigation on negligence (1880-1950)” on the ESTER Research Design Course at the University of Münster. The study mainly focuses on research methodology and the use of sources from Belgian courts and tribunals. In doing so, he underlines the underused yet fascinating potential of discursive analysis in both construction history and legal history research. This “major paper” is one of the final steps in completing  Posthumus’ Basic Training .   More information:   Posthumusinstitute.org  

  On 20 September 2024,   drs. João Tiago Freitas Mendes  (FCT/VUB) will present  a paper on first Heidegger's notion of "clearing" - meaningful, exceptional sparks of  conscience, allowing a subjective change of course and understanding towards a concrete event - as the key concept to understand the work of the novelist José Rodrigues Miguéis (1900-1980).  João Tiago Freitas Mendes  claims he is the best post-freudian portuguese writer. He studied Law in Portugal and then Pedagogy at the prestigious Free Univ. of Brussels from 1928 to 1933. He lived and died in New York. He was a "persona non grata" to Salazar's dictatorship.

The Worlds of Pre-Modern Neutrality (ca. 1400-1800):   Norms, Institutions and Practices  (image source: Bing image generator) Supported by FWO Junior Fundamental Research Project G016122N: In the Shadow of the Great Powers. Neutrality and the Law of the Sea in the Long Eighteenth Century (2024-2026) Conveners: dr. Stefano Cattelan & Prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt -  Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Research Group CORE Venue : Nottebohm Room, Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library - Hendrik Conscienceplein 4, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium) Date: 8-9 May 2025 Concept To ensure their security in a world dominated by competing Great Powers, states have the choice between an alliance or a neutral position. If we consider the world as governed by brute force, neutrality (the choice not to participate in a conflict between two or more other polities) would merely be a  factual condition , dependent on the big players’ goodwill. Even today the ongoing war in Ukraine and the geopolitical tensions between Chi