Duration
24h Th
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
In 2025-2026, the course will focus on the issue of debt, in the broadest sense of the term, while drawing on the legal and economic debates that arise during inter-state debt crises. The common thread will be the intertwining of economic, legal, and moral thinking. In addition to lectures during the first five weeks of the semester, students are required to undertake individual research work (analysis and presentation of two articles) related to the topic of debt, for which they can benefit from guidance by the professor. The individual research work will be presented at the end of the semester.
Overview of lessons:
1. Economic, legal and moral debt. The financial crisis and the many meanings of debt
2. Back to the origins: theological and canon law roots of Western legal culture
3. Religious law and financial capitalism: legitimizing the market economy
4. A critical reading of Max Weber and his Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
5. Debt relief in times of consecration of contractual obligation
Feedback moments will be organized to accompany the individual research work, but the student has to carry out the work in an automonous way.
As an alternative to the proposed theme and upon motivated request, students may also propose individual or group research projects on any other topic in the field of legal history.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
This course wishes to stimulate students' creative thinking by putting legal challenges in a historical perspective. More specifically, it invites students to investigate central notions in legal science. The student will thus be able to consider challenges in the present from a new angle and be able to develop a critical view of the use of historical argument in contemporary debates.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Basic knowledge of legal history, general academic interest, ability to read texts in French.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The course alternates between lectures, where students will be introduced to the main points of a given topic, and individual research projects. The latter involve the analysis and critical summary of two articles of the student's choice, taken from a forthcoming collective volume. At the end of the semester, students will give an oral presentation of their individual research. The presentations are followed by a group discussion and are preceded by the submission of a written assignment (4,000 words) the day before the presentations, which will be set in December.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Blended learning
Additional information:
face-to-face; self-study; oral presentation
depending on the number of students enrolled for the course, the approach can be adapted even more to the specific interests of the student
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
Further information:
The slides from the lecture will be made available to students on e-Campus. The articles to be analyzed individually are included in a forthcoming book, proofs of which will be made available to students.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Continuous assessment
Further information:
Writing an individual paper of approximately 4,000 words to be submitted the day before the oral presentations, which will take place in December. The assessment of the paper and its oral presentation accounts for half of the grade.
The oral exam during the exam period accounts for the other half of the grade. It is used to evaluate the lecture portion of the course as well as knowledge about the presentations given by the other students.
Work placement(s)
Optional Guided Tours
Students will be offered the opportunity to visit the Special Collections of the University of Liège and the State Archives. Both institutions contain exceptional collections of legal documents dating back to the medieval and early modern periods. These guided visits are extra-curricular and not obligatory.
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
wim.decock@uliege.be