The Construction and De(con)struction of Rights in America: Practice and Anti-Practice from Madison to Trump

We are delighted to announce that applications for the next Max Planck Masterclass with Professor Daniel Halberstam are now open (deadline 28 February).

The Masterclass on “The Construction and De(con)struction of Rights in America: Practice and Anti-Practice from Madison to Trump” will take place on 24-27 April 2023 at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany.

This Masterclass provides a critical examination of U.S. constitutional rights jurisprudence from the first Founding to the present. Our texts consist largely of landmark decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. They are selected not for comprehensive coverage, but to provide you with the basis for an informed understanding and critical analysis of U.S. constitutional theory and practice. As we read these cases together with care, our discussions will explore the competing theories of constitutional authority, interpretation, construction, and application that are implicitly or explicitly invoked in the decisions. Federalism will be a recurring theme as well.

Session 1: Constitutional Principles (from the first Founding to Reconstruction)

Session 2: Canon and Anti-Canon (from Reconstruction to the Warren Court)

Session 3: The Modern Construction of Rights (from the Warren Court to the Kennedy Court)

Session 4: Abortion, Guns, Politics . . . (the Roberts Court and beyond)

Daniel Halberstam is the Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law and Director of the European Legal Studies Program at the University of Michigan Law School. He also served for a decade as professor at the College of Europe, Bruges and is a member of the Helsinki Rule of Law Forum. He is an internationally recognized expert on constitutional law and federalism, was a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court, a member of the legal team in the Brexit litigation in the UK Supreme Court, and serves on the academic steering committee of the Luxembourg Forum, which brings together the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union for joint meetings.

All interested persons are welcome to submit a completed online application (CV, letter of motivation) by 28 February 2023 here: https://bewerbung.mpil.de/Vacancies/291/Application/New/2?lang=eng

There is the possibility to present your research project to Professor Halberstam and the other participants during the Masterclass. Please add an abstract of max. 500 words in case you are interested in this opportunity.