In the hallowed halls of staid law schools, scholars who examine law in cultural contexts — from Victorian diaries, to Hollywood blockbusters, to children’s literature — likely find themselves on the fringes. Sheryl Hamilton wants those who pursue an understanding of the cultural life of law, and law’s influence on culture, to know they aren’t alone.
“There is a place for the study of ‘small l’ law,” says Hamilton, the Canada research chair in communication, law and governance. “Carleton’s Department of Law is flexible and supportive, and a small community of law, culture and humanities scholars has emerged here. But there’s a need to bring this vibrant community together across Canada.”
Hamilton, BA/94, MA/95, and law colleagues Logan Atkinson, university secretary; Diana Majury, acting director of the School of Social Work; Neil Sargent, associate professor; and Christiane Wilke, professor, created the Canadian Institute for Law, Culture and Humanities (CILCH). A hub for research and collaboration, CILCH has offered alternating open-call and by-invitation conferences annually since 2003.
“CILCH breaks down the isolation and creates a network across Canada. It creates a space where people can encounter each other,” says Hamilton. “Law, culture and humanities is an emergent and interdisciplinary field, so CILCH is an opportunity to draw dispersed scholars together.”
The effort has been so successful that CILCH is being considered for status as a research group at Carleton. The designation will raise the status of the initiative and formalize the operations that have been a labour of love for the organizers. As a research centre, CILCH can also facilitate studies for graduate students by creating a concentration on law, history and humanities as part of the master’s program, and creating post-doctoral opportunities.
“Grad students feel empowered to incorporate fiction, media and film in their theses,” says Hamilton. “People feel comfortable in these new—and legitimate—areas of law studies.”
Fast fact…
CILCH is hosting an official launch in the fall to celebrate its new status as a research centre (pending approval) and to promote two new publications form its members: Diana Majury and Logan Atkinson’s edited collection Law, Mystery and Humanities and Sheryl Hamilton’s Impersonations: Troubling the Person in Law and Culture. CILCH will also host its third open conference, “Vision and Voice”, to explore how visions are negotiated in law and culture, whom the visionaries are, and how the law both gives and silences voice, from October 16 to 18, 2009.