Latest blog articles

  • Letter from the University Council

    Dear Members of the UM Community,

    The November meeting of the University Council was mainly devoted to conversations about how the university is dealing with tensions in the community related to the horrific events in South West Asia and the university budget for 2024.

    Teun Dekker
  • Letter from the University Council

    Dear Members of the UM Community,,

    A lot of the work of the University Council consists of advising on policy proposals and approving official documents. However, the Council is also a venue to discuss issues that occupy the minds of the members of our community and where the Executive Board...

    Teun Dekker
  • Letter from the University Council


    Dear Members of the UM Community,

    September is a month full of new beginnings. People in the university community take up new roles, start new research projects, or enroll in new classes. And while we might sometimes be nostalgic for the lazy days of summer, it’s also kind of nice to get to work.

    Teun Dekker
  • Letter from the University Council

    Dear Members of the UM Community,

    The end of the academic year is a busy time for all of us. Projects that we have been working on get finalized, everything needs to be prepared for the next academic year, and we reflect on the challenges of the past as well as the opportunities for the future.

    Teun Dekker
  • Letter from the University Council

    Dear Maastricht University Community,

    Since May 1, I have had the honour of being the chair of our University Council. I have worked at University College Maastricht since 2007, teaching a range of courses in political philosophy. As Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Education, I do research...

    Teun Dekker
  • Overcoming the pitfalls of anachronisms – and why this matters to all of us

    Every now and again, and especially when redesigning a curriculum, the question regarding the role and place of legal history in said curriculum is brought up. And rightly so. That is why the Open University Law School (UK) organized an online event on 15 December entitled Diversity, Dilemmas and...

    law_blog_mariken_lenaerts_pitfalls
  • Democracy and Nihilism: denouncing contemporary populist rhetoric

    In this piece, I will use two memes to begin to unpack what I think is the common denominator of contemporary populist rhetoric. I will explain that the real substance of this rhetoric is the creation of a false moral equivalence, revealing a nihilism. Finally, I will suggest how this false moral...

    law_blog_foto_Artur Willemse_groot
  • Legal science through the lens of fairy tales

    Fairy tales, when understood as manuals of behaviour that are shared within the household, can serve as a means to study and understand the law at a specific time and space. This claim is not new. The Grimm Brothers, the renowned scholars Friedrich C. von Savigny (1779-1861) and John H. Wigmore...

    Once upon a law
  • Electromagnetic interferences in the language of the law

    Language plays a fundamental role as a channel for law. It can enable members of society to access justice. Conversely, an inadequate use of language may result in a dissociation of law from a specific society. Language is a fundamental means to convey messages, to know the law, and to shape the law...

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