EUTopia CoLeCo Legal History: Collective and Individual Rights in Legal History

  After having made the most of our wonderful trips abroad, it was finally time for us at the University of Warwick to host the peak event in March this year. Under the excellent supervision of Professor Rosie Doyle, the Warwick cohort met a few weeks in advance to discuss the plans for the conference ahead. The most difficult task was trying to brainstorm a schedule that made Coventry seem like a distant utopia. Unsurprisingly, this was an extremely daunting task. Eagerly anticipating the arrival of the European cohorts, Mayukha and I thought merely about how much food and drink we could consume at Las Iguanas later that evening. Nevertheless, our last minute presentation edits were cut short as it was time to venture into Coventry to meet everyone else. Once at the hotel, it was lovely to see some familiar faces again including Professor Frederik Dhondt from Belgium who was responsible for organising the wonderful peak event last year. Mayukha and I recognised August from the VUB...

 Hello ! We are Aude, Ferdaouse, Emma, Lisa and Philippine ! We are first-year Master students from Cergy who took part in the Eutopia Legal History research project in 2024-2025.     Why did we join?   When Mrs. Argyriadis-Kervegan introduced us to the Eutopia legal history research project, we were highly intrigued by the opportunity it presented. It allowed us not only to engage in a substantial research endeavor but also to collaborate with students from various European Union countries. The theme for this year, “Individual and Collective Rights,” strongly resonated with us and the prospect of exploring how students from other nations perceive this topic motivated us to participate enthusiastically. Although most of us had prior experience with research projects, this was our first time presenting our findings before an audience of students and faculty from outside our university.   How did we choose our subjects?   Ferdaouse and Aude...

From March 13th to 16th, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) participated in the latest edition of the EUTopia Peak Event in Legal History, hosted this year at the University of Warwick. This year’s CoLeCo (Connected Learning Community) centered on the theme of Individual and Collective Rights, bringing together students from four EUTopia universities to explore historical and contemporary perspectives on the balance between personal freedoms and communal responsibilities. We set off for the Peak Event early in the morning, boarding a Eurostar train at Brussels-Midi bound for London. As we traveled beneath the Channel, anticipation grew for the days ahead, and the journey provided the perfect opportunity to connect with each other; since this year’s Brussels cohort had not met properly before. Upon arrival in the British capital, we took the opportunity to immerse ourselves in history, visiting the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum. Walking through the halls of these ...

The area of the West Midlands is sometimes overlooked as an unattractive, grey and dull industrial region, but this could not be further from the truth as the region, and especially Coventry has a rich and vibrant history, especially in the area of assembly. The city has gone through times of prosperity, which are still visible today, as well as times of turbulence, especially within the dark chapter of the Second Great War. Nevertheless, the people stood defiant and as a result we were able to experience the beauty of medieval England as well as the English countryside.   Our story begins long before setting foot in old Blighty. Back in Slovenia, armed with a unique research topic and an inquisitive spirit, we went adventuring through the dusty corridors of various archives of Slovenia and other Habsburg domains. From the national archive in Ljubljana, to a regional archive in Maribor, and an autonomous archive of the Slovene Bar association, all the way to the archives in Aus...

(Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick; source: Wikimedia Commons ) EUTopia Connected Learning Community Legal History: Collective and Individual Rights in Legal History Thursday 13 – Saturday 15 March 2025 University of Warwick Following the editions in Paris (February 2022), Ljubljana (March 2023), and Brussels (March 2024), the University of Warwick (Dr. Rosie Doyle) will host the 2025 flagship event of the Connected Learning Community in Legal History, with the support of the participating institutions (University of Warwick, CY Cergy Université, University of Ljubljana, Vrije Universiteit Brussel).       Thursday 13 March     Arrival of all participants   19.00 Evening Meal, Coventry (exact location tbc)     Friday 14 March   Location: Warwick Innovation District, Junction Building 6 University Road University of Warwick Coventry, CV4 7EQ ...