Interdisciplinarity: The Strange case of Shakespeare and the Law Event

Seven years ago the University of Warwick hosted an International Conference on Shakespeare and the Law, which led to a book and which launched the journal Law and Humanities.  Gary Watt is joint editor (with Paul Raffield) of the book and journal. In this paper Gary reflects upon law and humanities scholarship around the subject of Shakespeare in particular. What forms does it take; can it take, should it take? Can lawyers cultivate other fields and be acculturated by them, or must lawyers be cast as mere visitors or (worse) as trespassers? What are the lessons for lawyers engaging with the humanities and for humanities scholars engaging with law?

Speaker Information:

Gary Watt is a Professor in the School of Law at The University of Warwick. He is a National Teaching Fellow and was named UK "Law Teacher of the Year" in 2009. His books include Trusts and Equity 6th edn (OUP, Oxford, 2014), Equity Stirring: The Story of Justice Beyond Law (Oxford, Hart, 2009) and Dress, Law and Naked Truth: A Cultural Study of Fashion and Form (London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2013). He is a founding co-editor of the journal Law and Humanities , and writes extensively at the intersection of law, culture and the arts. He has written for BBC Radio 3, the Times Literary Supplement and regularly delivers workshops in rhetoric for the Royal Shakespeare Company.