A workshop in English Legal History will take place in Christ Church, Oxford on 10 and 11 September 2026. The organisers, Ciara Kennefick and Ian Williams, invite proposals for papers which address in whole or in part the theme of Crossing Intellectual Boundaries in English Legal History. The organisers aim to advance the interdisciplinary study of English legal history by exploring this theme in detail with colleagues in law and those from other disciplines who study the impact of other learning on English law.

English law has been marked by the reception or rejection of different bodies of learning in different periods, as lawyers and judges moved beyond their core legal learning or resisted the influence of ideas and techniques from other fields. These intellectual boundaries could be legal, such as between the common law, the civil law and equity. But English law has also engaged with learning beyond law; medicine, theology, economics and mathematics are just four examples. What were the reasons for these engagements with other learning? What were the consequences? Was English law more open to other learning in certain periods and if so, why was that the case?

Proposals for papers should be no more than 400 words and should be sent to ciara.kennefick@law.ox.ac.uk and ian.williams@law.ox.ac.uk by 5pm on 23 March 2026. The aim is to assign a commentator to each paper. Full papers will therefore be due by 5pm on 28 August 2026. Colleagues who are interested in attending the workshop in the capacity of commentator only are invited to write to this effect to Ciara Kennefick and Ian Williams by 5pm on 23 March 2026. The authors of the papers which are selected will be offered accommodation in Oxford on 10 and 11 September. Funding to support the travel of graduate students within the UK is available.
Depending on the extent to which the papers selected cohere with each other, it may be possible to produce an edited volume or a special edition of a journal. Participants are welcome to submit proposals for papers which they intend to publish elsewhere.